Kingdom Hearts: Live or Die Part 2 - Shattered By the Darkness
by krazykeybladegal
Summary: Continuing right after Part 1, Sora finds himself with a man named Sota. Who is he? Where did he come from? Does he have any connection to the Darkness? And is he an enemy or an ally? (Other characters from games/anime are in this story as well; not hust KH characters.)
1. Chapter 1 - The Mysterious Man

**Prologue**

"Please don't die! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. . ." he begged.

"I'm sorry too, for everything I made you go through. You were just a child."

"You can't die! You just can't! I. . . I should be the one to die. . . Not you. . . They were after me. Don't worry, I'll. . . I'll get help. . ."

"No. . . It's already too late. . . No one can help me now. . ."

"No. . . if you die. . . where will I go. . . what will I do. . .? I'll be all alone. . ." Tears brimmed in the corners of his eyes.

"No. . . you won't. Don't you see Sora? You have more than this. . . So much more. . ."

"What are you talking about?" The anger in his heart overpowered the sadness for a few seconds. "I can't trust anyone anymore! Riku's dead! The Darkness is right on my tail! What more do I have? You. . . you're all I got left. . ."

"You have friends. . . and more importantly. . . You have a family, Sora."

**Day 11**

**The Mysterious Man**

_What's happening to me? I feel like I'm slipping away. . ._

_. . . I'm so tired right now. . . _

_All I want to do. . . is. . ._

_Rest._

_"__You shouldn't go to sleep. The Darkness can easily take the lives of the vulnerable ones."_

_Who was that. . ? That voice. . . It's so smooth and calming. . ._

_"__Open your eyes. It's the right thing to do."_

_All right. . . I guess I will. . . _

Sora's eyes popped was lying in the middle of a forest, the dark forest in which him and Riku had arrived in days before. He was wearing no shirt and his chest was covered in bloody bandages.

"Where. . . am I?" Sora asked himself. "And. . . what happened to me. . ?" He glanced around the area. "Judging by the looks of this place, I could be any. . . whoa!" The ground suddenly shook. _What was that. . ? Well, whatever it is, is getting closer no doubt. I have to get out of here before whatever it is finds me. _

Forcing himself onto his feet, Sora grabbed onto a tree to help hold himself up. He limped over to the next tree and then over to the next. He bit his lip and used one of his hands to clutch his chest. _Where did all these wounds come from. . ? Why can't I remem~_

_Wait. . . I know! I went up against Kiari. . . I think. . . I think I lost. . . But what happened after that? I was dragged away and what? Everything after that is just blank. . . My memory is so fuzzy. . . I'm so confused. . . Why am I here in the forest though? I doubt that Kiari beat me, bandaged my wounds and then left me here in the forest to go on my way. . ._

_Riku. . ._

A jolt of pain shot through Sora's body and he collapsed to the ground. The pain that filled his body was excruciating. He cried out in pain, tears in the corners of his eyes. Once again, the earth shook beneath him.

He slowly was able to lift himself from the ground using his hands. He looked over his shoulder and with wide eyes, looked at the huge Heartless that was towering over him. It was a Darkside, one of the largest Heartless there were.

_What the hell!? When did that get there!? It's gonna kill me if I don't move! _Sora struggled with all of his might to get onto his feet, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't do it. He large Darkside began to bend over, reaching it's inhuman hand towards Sora.

Sora closed his eyes, knowing that there was nothing that he could do.

_"__Why do you close your eyes? They have to be open in order to see what's coming. Open them. . . There's no need to fear, for it's not your time yet."_

_There's that strange voice again. . . I wonder who it is. . . Whatever she was saying. . . I guess that she's right. . . My eyes have to be open to see what's coming. . . _Sora peeked an eye open hesitantly. The first thing he saw was a man, hacking his way through the Darkside in one blow. He watched as the now two pieces of the Heartless faded away as they fell towards the ground.

The man advanced over to Sora. "There you are."

Sora blinked. He had never saw this man before. He had blonde spiky hair and bright green eyes.

"You okay?"

The sixteen-year-old didn't answer.

"I honestly didn't expect you to wake up for a few more days. I thought you were dead when I found you," the man said.

Sora finally found something to say. "Who are you? What are you doing here? And why are you with me?" He summoned his Keyblade and weakly pointed it at the man.

"Well look who's being tough. Pretty brave, considering what condition you're in. But it's never bad to be cautious." The man smiled. "Where are my manners? My name is Sota Dave. . ."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Sota Dave?"

The man coughed and then cleared his throat. "Sota Davis. I was at Kiari's Kavern when I found you. You were hurt pretty badly. When I saw that you were alive, I got you out of there and bandaged your wounds."

"Wait, so you saved me?"

Sota nodded.

"Thanks. . . But did you say that I was _in _the castle?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, you were lying in a destroyed hallway."

"I wasn't on the roof?"

Sota shook his head.

Sora bit his lip. _How did I get there. . ? If I recall, I was on the roof fighting Kiari. . . Wait a second. . . _Looking up at Sota, he asked, "How do you know about Kiari?"

"I've been around here for a long time. And when I say long, I mean _long. _I know a lot of stuff that goes on around here," Sota replied. "I took the liberty of washing off your bloody shirt and jacket in the lake. Here you go." He tossed Sora his jacket and shirt.

Sora took his clothes and slipped them over his bandages. "Thanks."

"They were covered in blood. You see, the scent of blood attracts Heartless and other predators. It's safer if you didn't have the scent on you." Sota told him. "And here's your necklace."

Sora smiled as he placed the crown charm around his neck. "Thanks again. I'm grateful. Without you, I would have probably died."

"It was nothing. . . I was just helping out. . . The Keyblade Master," Sota replied.

"How do you know that I wield a Keyblade?"

"_Everyone _knows. You're the legendary boy who will open the Door to Light, right?"

Sora grinned. "Well, not to brag, but it's true." Running a hand through his hair, he realized, "Oops. . . Where are _my_ manners, I didn't even introduce myself yet. Sorry about that, I'm~"

"Sora Davidson."

"Huh? How did you know?"

"Don't think I don't know the legendary Keyblade Wielder's name."

"I guess that you're right. So I'm that popular, huh?"

"Well, everyone here seems to know about you. I don't know why, but it seems that Kiari wants you for something. . . This place has been going crazy. There are more Heartless and it's harder to sneak around without getting caught."

"What do you mean?" Sora questioned.

"After you came here, it's been more dangerous. More Heartless, more of Kiari's lackeys. . . I wonder what they want with you. . ."

Sora lowered his head. "Well. . . I. . . I fought Kiari. . . That's how I got all of these injuries. She told me that. . . that she wanted me. . . She wanted me to serve her. She wants me by her side. . . Why am I so special?"

"It could be because you're heart is so strong. If Darkness were to get into your heart, then it could just cause the end of everything. Hmm. . . Kiari wanting you. . . That's sounds so familiar. . ."

"Huh? Familiar, how?" Sora asked.

"It's nothing." Sota waved off Sora's question. "So you fought Kiari, huh? She's tough, isn't she?"

Sora nodded. "I've never lost that badly before. . . I seriously thought that I could beat her, but I guess I was wrong. . ." Clenching his fists, he continued, "She used me to kill my best friend. . . She used me to kill Riku. . . I never thought that Riku would actually be killed. . . I always thought he'd be there for me. . ." Sora slammed his fist into the ground. "Damn it! I killed my best friend! I don't deserve to live for that!" Tears rolled down Sora's face.

Sota knelt down next to the crying boy. "You didn't mean to kill him, did you?"

Sora shook his head. "No. . . I never wanted to kill anybody. . . I was just trying to protect my friends. . . You see, Kiari told me that Riku had tried to kill her. But it was a lie, and I fell for it. I'm so stupid! I didn't trust Riku. . . I didn't trust him at all. . . And now he's dead because of me. I killed him. It's just. . . I never imagined that Kiari would be evil. . . I thought that Riku was lying to me. . . I figured that the Darkness in his heart was just messing with his mind. I should have listened to him when I had the chance. . . Now look what I've done!"

"It's all right. It's not like you did it intentionally. Look, sometimes bad things happen and there's nothing that you can about it. You didn't kill Riku," Sota told him. "It was the Darkness in your heart."

Sora wiped the tears from his eyes. "You see, for some reason, I never thought that my heart held Darkness. . . I always thought that I was full of Light. . . I guess I was wrong about that too. I never imagined that I would use the Darkness. . ."

"There's Darkness within every heart. It may sound hard to believe, but even in the nicest people, there is Darkness. It's just buried deep inside their hearts, shrouded by the Light," Sota explained.

"I know. . ." Sora slowly got onto his feet. He only stood for a few moments before he flinched and almost collapsed. Sota grabbed a hold of him before he hit the ground. Sora grasped his body where the wounds were. He slowly rolled up his shirt until he saw how blood-soaked the bandages had become.

Sota slowly helped Sora sit onto the ground and leaned him against a tree. "Stop moving around, all right? You're bandages need replaced. Just relax and keep still."

Sora managed a slight nod as Sota did his work. For as kind as it was for Sota to help and save him from certain death, he had to wonder; where did Sota come from? Why would he save him? What if he was a spy for Kiari?

Sora bit his lip. _If that's true, then I'm in serious trouble with this guy. . . But still, why would someone like him work for Kiari? If he was in league with her, then why would he be helping me?_

_"__You should try to get some rest. This is only the starting of your adventure, a mere introduction to what your true destiny is."_

Sora blinked a few times before he closed his eyes. _I guess I should relax. . . I haven't fully recovered from that battle. . . But tomorrow, I'll have to keep moving._


	2. Chapter 2 - Heading Out

**Day 12**

**Heading Out**

"Riku!" Sora quickly jumped awake. Beads of sweat rolled down his face.

Only moments ago, he had seen himself ball his hand into a tight fist, trying to squeeze the last of the Light in Riku's heart. He saw himself forcing Riku's being into the Darkness. Him stabbing through Riku's body; Riku's Keyblade stabbing through his own.

Sora took a deep breath and sighed. It had all been a dream. . . Everything he had saw was fake. Just figments of his imagination.

_That was the worse dream ever. . . I just can't get Riku off my mind. . . I can't believe that I killed him. . . How could I do that. . ? That fight. . . It was me who he was fighting, I know it was. . . But why was I so different? I didn't look like myself. . . I looked like I was part of the Darkness. . . _

_But how could that be? What if it was real. . ?_

_No. It can't be real. Riku's dead. It's a known fact. His body is back in the river beside the castle. . . He's never coming back to me._

"Sora?"

Sora's gaze slid over to Sota who was standing a few feet away from him. He had almost forgotten about his mysterious savior.

_He's still here, huh? Well, he didn't take me back to Kiari yet so maybe he really is on my side. I can't let my guard down though._

"You feeling any better? You must have passed out when I changed your bandages."

Sora nodded. "Yeah. . . I was really tired."

"I'm sure you still are."

Slowly getting onto his feet, making sure to use the tree he was next to for support, he stretched his arms. "I'm still a little tired, but I feel a bit better now. Some of my strength is coming back."

"That's good to hear." Sighing, Sota continued, "So Sora, what were you planning on doing now?"

Sora shrugged. "I'm not sure. . . I don't have anywhere to go. Usually. . . I would ask Riku and then follow him. . . But I guess that I'll just have to make my own choices now. . . Man, I hope they'll be the right ones to make. Riku usually keeps me in top form, but now that he's gone. . . Who knows what mistakes I'm gonna end up making?"

"Well, it's been nice, but I have to get moving," Sota told him. "I have things that I have to do. It was nice meeting you, Sora."

Sora watched as his savior turned on his heels and began to walk away. Sota was almost out of sight, concealed by the shadows of the trees, when Sora quickly stopped him. "Wait! Please. . ."

Sota paused.

"Could I. . ?" Sora swallowed and built up the courage to ask, "Can I come with you?"

The blonde looked over his shoulder.

"Please?" Sora continued. "I won't be a burden, I promise. I just don't want to be left alone. . . Kiari said that she wanted me to serve alongside her. . . And I'm too wounded right now to defend myself. So Sota, please, take me with you. I don't care where you're going, I'll just follow you until I can find out where to go next."

A smile spread out across Sota's face. "You want to come with me?"

"Can I?"

"I don't know. . . It won't be easy with you around. It'll be easier to get caught if you're with me. . ."

"I promise, I won't get in the way! I'll do anything you say!" Sora took a step towards him. "Just for a little while. . . At least until I find out where I can go. What do you say?"

Sota bit his lip and shifted his gaze in the other direction. Sora knew that he was debating whether or not he should take the injured sixteen-year-old with him.

Smiling, Sota sighed. "Fine, who am I to leave an injured kid alone, huh?"

Sora smiled widely. "So that's a yes?"

"Yeah, you can come!"

Sora jumped up and punched the empty air. "Yes!"

"I thought you were wounded to the point where you could hardly walk. I guess that you were lying."

"No, I just have a bunch of energy and willpower."

Sota sighed. "You'll need more than that to survive around here. You need strength, power, survival skills, and brains. I can tell that you lack most of those."

"Excuse me? I happen to know a bunch of survival skills!" Sora pouted. A small red butterfly flew passed him and he swatted at it. "Go away! Shoo! Shoo!" When it landed on the side of a tree, Sora stepped over to it. "Wow, you have a cool color. . ."

In an instant, Sota was giving him a small shove away. The man summoned his weapon and forcefully stabbed it into the tree, chopping the butterfly in half. Sora watched in horror as it fell to the ground in two pieces. "How could you do that? It never did anything to you!"

Sota slid his gaze back over towards the dead bug. "This little bastard that you were about to touch has pollen on its wings that contains a deadly poison. If you would have touched it and stuck your fingers in your mouth or on your food, you would have been dead by this afternoon."

Sora blinked rapidly. "Huh? How. . . Are you serious?" He could remember the beautiful designs that had been on the creature's wings. "But. . . It looked so innocent. . . How could that thing be a deadly creature?"

"Most things that look innocent are evil. Take Kiari for example. I'm sure when she was just a little girl, everyone thought that her body lacked any type of evil," Sota told him.

Sora lowered his head. "I guess you're right. . . But how did you know it was poisonous?"

"I was poisoned by it before."

Sora's mouth fell open. "Really? But then how are you still alive?"

"I just happened to be up in the castle when I figured it out. I thought I was a goner at first, but luckily, I stumbled across a room that had a shelf full of antidotes and medicine. I found one that cured poison and quickly fixed myself up. I was lucky." Sota retrieved his weapon from the tree. "So, you know your survival skills, huh?"

Sora managed a fake smile. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Well. . . You know. . . Sometimes people stretch the truth by accident."

"Yeah, sure."

Sora sighed and then let his eyes trail over to the weapon that rested in Sota's hand. "Hey! I didn't know that you wielded a Keyblade!"

Sota blinked. "Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to mention it."

Eying the weapon, Sora commented, "I guess that if you wield a Keyblade, you must be pretty good at combat. Can you use any magic?"

"No, I can't use any type of magic. Mainly, I just use combat. What about you?"

"Well, I know a bunch of spells, and not to brag, but I think I'm excellent at fighting," Sora smirked. "I know I'm strong."

"I'm sure you are," Sota smiled. "It wouldn't surprise me one bit."

"Why not?" Sora asked.

"Oh, no reason. I mean, you are the legendary Keyblade Master. He should be strong, you know?"

"I'm very strong." Sora scratched his head and then asked, "Hey, are we gonna get going soon? Where are we going anyway?"

"Well, if you're gonna follow me, I guess that you should probably know where we're going," Sota said. "We're heading to a labyrinth."

"Labyrinth?"

"A maze."

"A maze, huh? What for?" Sora asked curiously. "I didn't even know there was a maze in this place. . . Where even _are_ we? Do you know what his place is called?"

"This is the Dominion of Darkness," Sota told him. "This is where Kiari and her minions reside. How did you not know that?"

"You see, Riku and I just kind of crashed our ship here. We didn't know where we were and we couldn't ask anyone."

"I see. Well, now you know."

"Why are were heading to a labyrinth anyway?" Sora questioned once again.

"I'm looking for somebody. I saw him heading that way while you were resting."

"Looking for someone? Who?" Sora asked. He wondered who Sota could possibly be searching for in a place like the Dominion of Darkness.

Instead of answering, Sota began to walk off. "Come on, it's a long walk to the labyrinth from here. We'd better get there before nightfall."

"Nightfall?"

"That's when the real enemies come out."

Sora swallowed. "Like. . . what?"

"Heartless, demons, other creatures of the Darkness. Things like that. It's not fun if you run into them. I've experienced what they can do to the weak," Sota explained. "I got attacked by a group of enemies one night." Sota pulled up his shirt to reveal a scar that had once been a deep gash in the side. "Barely made it out alive."

"Awesome. . ." Sora breathed, eying the scar. "I wish I had scars like that. I would look so cool. . . Riku would even have to admit that I looked way more cooler than him."

Sota smiled and shook his head. "You don't to be injured like this, especially in your state. But either way, it is getting late. We have to move. Are you sure you can walk well enough to just follow behind me?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, I'm good."

"All right, we'd better go. . . Before all Hell breaks loose."


	3. Chapter 3 - Bad Things Happen

**Day 13**

**Bad Things Happen**

A lump immediately formed in Sora's throat when Sota said, "We're here."

He figured that the labyrinth wouldn't be very welcoming, but once he set eyes on the entrance, he feared that if he stepped in there, he would never come back out. Fog was floating about in the silent air, making Sora's surroundings hard to make out.

Sota stepped forward. "We're here."

"Wait. . . You're telling me that you want to go in _there_?"

Nodding, Sota asked, "Why, are you scared?"

"No," Sora quickly answered. "I'm not scared."

"Are you sure?" Sota's voice sounded more darker and serious than before.

Sora bit his lip. He knew he was afraid. He knew that there was always the chance that if he entered the Labyrinth, he would never come back out. But he knew that if she stepped down now, Kiari would forever be shrouded in the Darkness, and she too would never be rescued and returned to her original state. . . Which brought Sora back to another question that was nagging at his brain.

_Is there any way for me to save Kiari and change her back to normal? I know that she has some Light, deep down inside of her. . . Somewhere. . . There has to be Light within in somewhere. Everyone has at least a bit of Light. I have to grow stronger. . . I have to keep trying. If I try again, I may be able to beat her. I will defeat her, I will bring her back. But what about Riku. . ._

Sora clenched his fist and closed his eyes. When he looked back up at Sota, he said, "If I turn away now, everything I've done so far would be in vain. I don't want to be afraid, and I don't want to run away. If I do, I'll never be the same. All of my achievements will be thrown away. I can't let that happen." Sora stepped ahead of Sota and took his first step into the Labyrinth. "Well, you coming Sota?"

Sota smiled. "Yeah, but I still think that you should let me be in the lead."

"Okay, sure."

Sota stepped ahead of him and led the way.

As Sora walked, he thought about it; who was Sota searching for? Who would be so important to find that you would go out of your way to stick yourself in one of the most dangerous places in the world to find whoever it was you were searching for? For as curious as he was, Sora wasn't sure if he wanted to ask Sota who he was searching for or not. But who could it be? A friend, a family member, an enemy. . .

Or was he lying?

Was Sota taking him to Kiari? A lie was easy to tell, but hard to read. As Sora trudged behind Sota, he couldn't help to think that there was something odd. . . or somehow, familiar about him. He couldn't put his finger on it, but Sora had seen Sota before. He just didn't know where or when.

_I wonder why Sota didn't answer me when I asked him before who he was searching for. . . Is he hiding something from me? If he is, I wanna find out what it is. If only Riku was here. . . I could always count on him to know if someone was lying or not. He was always an excellent judge of character. I'm hopeless. . ._

_I'm gonna do it. I'm going to ask him. I want to know who he's searching for. If we're in this together, then I have to know what he knows. I've already told him everything I know, but I can tell that he still has some secrets that he has yet to reveal._

Sora picked up his pace so that he was only a few inches behind the man who was supposedly on his side. "Hey Sota," Sora began, pointing a finger at him, "I want some an~"

"Shh!" Sota snapped. The harshness in his voice made Sora fall silent. "I'm trying to concentrate."

"Concentrate?" Sora whispered to him. "On what?"

"I've heard rumors that this place can make you delusional. Illusions can easily catch you off guard," Sota explained.

"Illusions?"

"Mainly, they like to mess with your head. Somehow, this place can sense the things that keep you on edge and frighten you the most, and create illusions out of them. If you do step into an illusion, don't pay any attention to it. If you do, it will most likely drive you insane, and then eventually, suicidal. Don't let that happen to you. And another thing, stay beside me at all times. If I lose you in here, most likely, I won't find you again, and you'll end up being left for dead."

Sora blinked. "You'd leave me for dead?"

"What I'm saying is, the illusions will most likely kill you before I can even get close to finding you again, so if we get separated, it would be a waste to try and find you." Sota sighed. "Just try not to wander off, all right? It's that simple."

"Okay. . ." Sora nodded, still unsure why Sota would ever want to go into a place like the Labyrinth. Was the person Sota was searching for really that important? Sora still wondered who it was, but he knew that if Sota hadn't answered him before, he probably never will.

As he followed the older man, he glanced from side to side. Frozen vines ran along the ground, crunching beneath Sota and Sora's feet.

Sora glanced at he walls that were keeping him and Sota sealed in the Labyrinth. Wondering what they were made of, he stopped and ran his hand along them. Although they were coated in hard vines and other plants, he could feel the stone wall that was underneath all of the hedge.

_This place is really creepy. . . _Sora thought, his skin prickling from the cold air. _I wonder why this place is even here. . . Then again, Sota said this place is the Dominion of Darkness, the Hell on earth, so I guess that it's no surprise that some creepy place like this is here. It probably belongs to Kiari._

Walking along, another question dawned on him. "Hey Sota," Sora began, "do you know a way out of here?"

Sota didn't answer.

"Hey, Sota?"

When he got no reply, Sora just decided to be quiet. As they continued to advance along, he thought that he heard something. A footstep maybe. . .

Sora quickly spun around. There was no one there, and the noise had stopped. Only the cold breeze could be heard. _That's weird, _Sora thought. _I could swear that I heard something. . . it was probably nothing._ He was just about ask Sota if he heard the noise, but then paused when he saw how cautious Sota was being. He was glancing back and forth every so often, his Keyblade resting in his hand by his side. Sora knew if he interrupted Sota now when he was "concentrating," he would only make the older man mad.

Figuring that it was only his mind playing tricks on him, he continued to walk on. That's when he heard the noise once again. He quickly spun around.

Again, no one.

He knew that there had to be something behind them. He just couldn't put his finger on who, or what it could be. Sora chose that he should warn Sota about it. "Hey Sota."

Sota paused and then sighed. "What? Can't you see that I'm busy? You told me that you wouldn't get in my way."

"I'm not. . ."

"Then why are you interrupting me?"

Sora looked over his shoulder. "I think that there's something following us."

"You think or you know?" Sota asked.

Sora frowned. "Come on, Sota. I didn't just imagine it!" Remembering where he was, he changed his voice to a whisper. "I tell you, there's something out there."

"It's probably just an illusion," Sota told him. "What did I tell you about those things? Don't pay attention to them or you'll just end up hurting yourself. Now, just ignore it and let's get moving."

"What I heard wasn't an illusion! I know what I heard. This is someone or _something_ running around secretly. Please, just listen to me. What if I actually saw something?" Sora asked.

"What if you _didn't?_"

Frowning, Sora folded his arms. "All you adults are the same. You never listen to us kids who are really the ones who are always right," Sora muttered. He didn't understand why Sota didn't believe him. Sora looked back and then began to walk after Sota who had continued on into the Labyrinth.

Then Sora heard the noise again. This time he could tell where it was.

It was right behind him, and closing in on him quickly. He could feel the space between he and it getting smaller and smaller.

When Sora spun himself around, his Keyblade was already gripped tightly in his hand and on alert.

Whatever it was caught Sora by surprise. It wrapped something around his neck and lifted him off of his feet, cutting off his air supply. While he was trying to free himself, he glanced down at his attacker. He was surprised when he didn't see anyone, but what he did see surprised him even more.

It was the vines that were running along the ground. They were moving as if they had a body and mind of their own. They wrapped around Sora's limbs one by one and tightened so he couldn't move. Sora desperately tried to pull the vines away from his neck. With an extra burst of adrenaline, he began to slice the vines away with his Keyblade. But, it was only a matter of time before the vines wrapped around his wrists and restrained him once again. Sora had reached his limit.

He released his Keyblade and let it disappear. Sora gasped for breath, but the vine had cut off his air supply completely. Black spots dotted his vision.

With the last of his strength, he tried to pry the vine loose, but it was no use. Sora's kicking legs were the last thing secured and then he was cut away from movement. The vine that was wrapped around his waist was starting to tighten, knocking the rest of the air out of him. There was a pressure that was building up in his chest that was unbearable. He felt as if he was going to burst.

Weakly, Sora managed to glance over at Sota who was rather far away now. The vines had been quick and quiet, and now Sora realized that it wasn't only the illusions that were deadly. Everything in this place was. But then again, they were in the Dominion of Darkness. And that was probably just the beginning of what was bound to come.

Sora's consciousness was fading, and he was only able to choke out one thing. "S-Sota. . ."

As Sota continued to walk, he was surprised at how quiet Sora was being. Sighing, he said, "Sora, I don't care if you talk to me, just try and keep your voice down."

Sora said nothing.

"Well, aren't you going to answer me? I thought you'd be dying to speak with me since well. . . You're the way you are."

Silence.

Sota frowned and turn around. "I know I was being rude before, but honestly, you don't have to give me the silent treat~" He blinked.

Sora was gone.

"Sora?" Sota looked around. "Sora? Where are you?" Quickly, he ran a short distance back from where he came from until he finally saw the sixteen-year-old.

Sora was hanging in the air, struggling desperately to free himself from the vines that had wrapped around his body. "Sora!" Sota shouted, summoning his Keyblade as he ran towards him. As he did, he watched as Sora's arm, the one that was struggling to get the vine off of his neck, hang down and go helplessly limp. Once he got close enough, Sota slashed the vines away. When he severed one of them, it let out an ear piercing screech. Wincing, Sota chopped the other vines away, gave Sota a toss of his shoulder, and then ran.

Once he got far enough away, he slowly lowered Sora onto the ground and then knelt down beside him. "Hey Sora, are you all right?" When he didn't get an answer from the boy, Sota reluctantly put his head against Sora's chest. He feared that he wouldn't get a heartbeat.

Sota's racing heart was relieved when he heard Sora's heartbeat. He wasn't dead.

Sota pulled out a pocket knife and cut the vines that were still wrapped tightly around some of Sora's limbs. He tugged them off and then glanced down the foggy pathway of the Labyrinth. Sota could hardly make out a figure, walking through the mist. He squinted his eyes and then stood up quickly. He let the pocket knife slip out of his hand and fall to the ground when he realized who it was.

Sora only had a bit of strength left. He knew that Sota had rescued him, but he didn't know where the man had gone. Not too long ago, he had heard Sota's footsteps walking away, and now, he could hear nothing.

"S-Sota. . ?" Sora peeked one of his tired eyes open, only to close it a few moments later.

Knowing that he was too wounded to recover his strength quickly, Sora let himself fall into a deep sleep. He knew that sleeping in the Labyrinth could prove to be deadly, but when he heard the strange voice inside his head again, he knew that he'd be safe.

_"__Instead of sleeping, why don't you try to move around?"_

Opening his eyes, Sora realized that that one voice was speaking to him again. The girl's soft, smooth voice. The place he was standing in was not the Labyrinth, but a place full of Light and peace. As far as the eye could see, pure whiteness covered everything. Nothing else could be seen but the purity of the place he was standing in.

But where was he?

Sora looked around to find the source of the voice. Someone had to be there. "Hello? Where are you? What is this place?"

_"__This is the world of Fate."_

"World of Fate. . ? Wait. . . Who are you?"

_"__You'll find out soon enough. We'll meet again sometime soon, but for now, you have to face what's coming. Beware of the Darkness that is hiding deep within your heart. Right now, it remains asleep, but still, it will try to take over whenever you are most vulnerable. Do not let the Darkness take you over, or you will definitely perish to its dark power."_

Sora waited patiently for the voice to continue.

_"__If you hold your Keyblade in the air and think of where you want to be, the magical powers in this place will send you there."_

What the voice had mentioned made him wonder; what if he could find his way back to Riku? If wherever you wanted to go you would appear, then maybe he could use that to his advantage. But what about Sota? Sora could only imagine what deadly things awaited his journey through the Labyrinth, and he knew that whatever the troubles, they would be dangerous.

He decided that he'd have to chance it.

Sora knew that he couldn't just leave Sota alone. Pointing his Keyblade into the air, he pictured the dark Labyrinth in his head. A blinding Light suddenly shone and Sora used his other arm to cover his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4 - Stepping Into the Illusion

**Day 14**

**Stepping Into the Illusion**

Sora rubbed his pounding head and groaned. His surrounding were now dark and creepy, the complete opposite of where he just was.

Realizing that Sota was still gone, Sora called out in a lower voice, "Sota? Hey Sota, are you here?" When he got no reply, he sighed; something must have drove Sota to keep moving. But what?

"I'm not sure where he went. . . But maybe if I just keep moving forward, I'll run. . . into. . ." Sora's words were cut short when he saw who was standing directly across from him.

It was Kiari.

She was there, staring at him with a pained look on her face. She didn't say a word, nor did she move. Her blue eyes looked moist with tears, but none were brimming in the corners of her eyes. She looked different from when Sora had saw her last. She looked normal.

She looked like his friend. Not the evil creature that the Darkness had made her become.

"K-Kiari. . ." Sora gasped, not believing what he was seeing.

That being said seemed to snap her out of her frozen stance. She blinked her sad eyes slowly and then let fresh tears stream down her cheeks. "Sora. . . Help me. . ." she said. Her voice cut a deep gap into Sora's heart; it sounded so weak and helpless.

"Kiari. . . What's wrong. . ?" Sora took a step towards her but she took a quick step back.

"He's. . . He's coming after me. . . And when he finds me. . . He's gonna kill me. . . Oh Sora, you can't let him do that. . . You can't!" she panicked.

"What. . ? What are you talking~"

Kiari's scream cut him off. A look of pure terror came to life on her face and she quickly backed away. "No! Don't come any closer! Stay away from me!"

When Sora went to reply, he silenced himself when he saw someone else.

Riku, who seemed to just appear out of nowhere, walked passed Sora and advanced toward Kiari. He was taking his good old time in heading towards her, one calm step after the other. His dark frown transformed into a freakish, crescent-shaped smile. His Keyblade was gripped tightly in right hand and resting at his side.

"Riku. . ." Sora began, but Kiari's screams interrupted him again.

"Sora help! Help me! He's gonna kill me! Sora! Please help me!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face.

Sora stood motionless. He was confused and scared. Where had Riku and Kiari come from? What was Kiari talking about? Why was Riku acting differently? Something was wrong, terribly wrong, but Sora couldn't figure out what it was. He was frightened by the scene that was playing before him, and he didn't know what he could do to stop it. When Kiari began to race off, Riku followed, and Sora decided to trail behind the two slowly to see what was happening.

Nothing seemed to make sense anymore.

Kiari was continuing to run away, but then she tripped and fell to the ground. She desperately tried to stand, but was only able to back away as Riku approached.

Sora wanted to run towards his friend and see if she was all right, but it was as if something was preventing him from moving. When he tried to take a step on his own, his legs felt heavy.

Spinning herself around, Kiari gazed up at Riku who was now standing above her. He looked down at her with that same twisted look, and then raised his Keyblade. Kiari screamed and pleaded for help, but no matter how hard Sora tried to act, nothing would break him out of his frozen place. He was glued to where he stood, only being able to watch what crazy nightmare would unfold in front of him.

Riku seemed to halt for a few moments. All the while, Kiari screamed in horror, "No! Please stop! Stop!"

Sora finally swallowed the lump that had formed his throat and then was able to spit some words out of his sewn shut mouth. "Riku, what are you~" His question was left to floating in the foggy air when he finally realized what was happening.

Blood splattered onto the ground as Kiari's body instantly went limp and fell back onto the ground. As Riku continued to chop at Kiari's already dead body, blood seeped into his clothing and stained his silver hair. Some of the red liquid even ran over his white teeth. As he slashed and sliced in a remorseless way, he let out an evil, wicked laugh.

Sora took a couple steps backward until he found himself pressing his back against one of the rugged hedges. "Riku. . ." Sora shuddered. When Riku severed Kiari's left arm from her body, a spray of blood changed the color of the ground to red. Some of the red droplets splattered onto Sora's face, mixing with some of his tears.

Even now, the silver-haired boy continued to slice Kiari's body into more pieces. You could hardly tell that the bloody figure had once been a human being. "Riku! Stop!" Sora finally screamed in terror.

To Sora's surprise, Riku stopped. His Keyblade dripped blood from its tip. He turned around and faced Sora. He still had the same malevolent face that he had before. Now, this time he made his way slowly towards his sixteen-year-old friend.

"Riku. . ." Sora's voice was unsteady, full of fear.

Riku's smile turned even freakier.

"Riku. . . wait stop! No!"

The older boy licked away some of Kiari's blood that ran down onto his lips.

"Riku!"

He held up his blood dripping Keyblade.

Sora went to run, but there was no where he could go. Riku closed in on him. Sora knew that he could only try one more time to stop his friend from committing another murder. "Stop Riku! Please stop!" Sora begged, tears streaming down his face. "Don't do it Riku! Please don't! No!"

Riku made no reply and then made his move.

Sora screamed in agony. His screams echoed the entire way through the Labyrinth. When he realized that he had is eyes closed, he snapped them open.

Riku was gone, and so was Kiari.

Everything that Sora had just witnessed was gone. Riku and Kiari, all of the red blood, Kiari's shredded body, gone.

Vanished.

Sora didn't understand. He had saw everything with his own two eyes. Was he possibly dreaming? Was he hallucinating? Sora blinked and then finally remembered what Sota had told him about illusions. The Labyrinth could somehow sense what frightened people the most and then it would create an illusion out of it.

_That's what must have happened. . . It was an illusion. I guess one of my fears is having Riku and Kiari both dead. . . Never having to be with one of them again. . . If I had the choice to save one of them. . . Who would it be. . ?_

Sora shook his head; he couldn't think about things like that.

When he went to move, a sudden weakness ravaged his body and he fell to his knees. "What the. . . hell. . ?"

Sora's eyes widened when he saw a knife sticking out of his side. The left side of his blue tank top was soaked in red blood. _When. . ? When the hell did that get there!? How did I get injured? Shoot. . . This really hurts. . . _

Sora hesitantly grasped it, biting his lip. He gave it a yank and tore it out of his body, throwing blood droplets onto the ground. He muttered a few curses and took some deep breaths to calm himself down and ease some of the pain. He placed his hand over the wound and then stood up.

_Thankfully, that wasn't very deep at all. . . Still, Sota will have to bandage it so it doesn't get infected. . . Wait a second. . ._

Sora looked around. "Sota?"

The man was gone.

_That's funny. . . He's the one who told me not to get separated. And there he goes, getting lost. Crap. . . I wonder if this pocket knife belongs to him. _Sora folded the bloody knife back up and put it in his pocket. _I remember those vines attacked, and Sota must have saved me. . . I heard him walk away, but where'd he go?_

Sora sighed; nothing could be easy. He looked forward and then back. Once again, a thought crossed his mind. Should he trace his way back to the entrance and go on his way, or should be continue forward? He knew he had to keep going on. The only was he could keep moving was forward. If he went back now, he would be choosing defeat.

The sky had grown darker since they had arrived and Sora knew that it was around midnight. As he walked, he couldn't help to think that he and Sota had some kind of connection. . .

But it was weird because he had never met Sota before.

There was something on the tip of his tongue, but Sora just stopped, cracked his neck, and continued off into the night.

Ryan, Zack, and Taylor advanced through the Labyrinth. While the two younger boys chased, pushed, and shoved each other around for fun, Ryan sighed. He turned to face his brothers. "Can't you two be normal for once?"

"Aw Ryan, that's mean," Zack frowned. "You should know by now that we're not normal."

"Anyone can see that," Ryan muttered.

"No Ryan, we told you," Taylor said. "We're unique."

Ryan sighed again. "You two are idiots. I don't know why I try to communicate with you. I should just stay with the smart people instead."

"Ryan! We're not stupid!" Zack protested. "We're just. . . well. . ."

"Dense," Ryan replied. "I've had enough of this. Tell me, do you even know why we're out here?"

The two boys paused and thought hard for a moment. Taylor replied first. "Aren't we just taking a stroll?"

It took all of Ryan's sanity not to punch his youngest brother. Still, he calmly replied, "No Taylor, we are not out here for a stroll. We are out in this godforsaken maze of death because we were sent to go and find Sora. Didn't you listen to a word Kiari said?"

Zack responded first. "Well, I try to block out most of her words. Usually, she just insults us in violent ways so I just decide not to listen."

The oldest boy shook his head and mumbled to himself, "Why? Why was I cursed with such foolish brothers?"

Taylor was the next one to talk. "Why do we even listen to Kiari? All she does is treat us like we're trash. I don't see why we let her push us around. I mean, that's Dad's castle, not hers."

Ryan turned to him. "Taylor, try to understand. We can't leave now. Kiari has the power to easily make the Darkness in someone's heart corrupt. If we try to leave, she can make one of us turn on each other, and I'm not taking that risk. We've gotta stay." He knelt down and whispered to his two brothers, "I know that it may not be now, or anytime soon, but still, if Kiari thinks that she can get away with everything she's up to, she's wrong. Somehow, someway, that castle will belong to us again, and we'll have our original life back, but for now, we have to play along. It's just like Joshua said; 'The only we can hope to survive is if we obey her order. I promise you, I'll find a way out of this. I always do. Just hold tight until I can think of something.' Both Amiamon and Lee are believing it, and so are we. She'll be defeated sometime, but for now, all we can do is wait. Understand?"

The two Thompson boys nodded at their older brother. They knew that if he had gotten them this far, he could do the rest of the way.

Ryan stood back up and stretched. "Let's go," he directed. "Sora's around here somewhere, and our objective is to find him and take him back to Kiari."

"But where do you think he~" All of the sudden, Zack was falling towards the ground, and there was a loud splash. He had fallen into a pond.

Ryan and Taylor were silent at first, surprised. It was only moments before Taylor fell to his knees in laughter. He laughed even harder when he saw Zack's soggy figure.

Ryan, more matured than his youngest brother, held out his hand and pulled Zack to his feet. "You all right?"

Zack nodded, a look of embarrassment on his face. But that look was quickly replaced by one of pride. "Yeah, I'm fine. I knew that pond was there. I just wanted to see what you guys would do if I fell into one. I wanted to see if you would be generous and help me out, or," he turned to his other brother, "sit there and laugh while I almost drowned to death!"

Taylor was finally able to stop laughing and he stood up. "Sorry, but you're such a klutz. I don't know how you do it, but you always manage to trip and fall. You are stupid."

"Hey Taylor, can you hand me that map that I gave you earlier of the Labyrinth. I don't remember seeing a pond," Ryan stated.

Taylor blinked a few times. "What map?"

"The map to the Labyrinth. Remember, I told you to grab it before we left."

"Oh. . . _That _map. . ." Taylor ran his fingers through his hair nervously, "Well, you see. . . I kind of forgot to grab it. . ."

"You dumbass!" Zack shouted. "Now who's the stupid one?"

Ryan was silent.

"I'm sorry," Taylor apologized. "I was going to go back and get it, but I didn't think that we'd need it."

"You idiot! We're stuck in here because of you!"

Ryan watched his brothers bicker until he couldn't take it anymore. He placed himself between the two and yelled, "Shut up! Both of you! I got plenty of yelling from Mom and Dad and I don't need it from you."

Zack sighed and straightened himself out. "So, now what?"

"Well, I suppose we keep moving. . ." Ryan replied. "We just have to be cautious when moving ahead. Stay behind me just in case."

Just when the three Thompson boys went to move on, Zack stopped them. "Hey, did you hear that?"

"What?" Taylor whispered.

"It sounded like a splash. . ." Zack pointed straight ahead, through the fog.


	5. Chapter 5 - The Tricks of a Labyrinth

**Day 15**

**All the Tricks and Troubles of a Labyrinth**

Sora trudged along. He had continued to go straight, but he had had no sign of Sota being around. His Keyblade was hanging tiredly in his right hand in case anything decided to attack him.

_This Labyrinth is so confusing. I swear that I already passed that boulder, _Sora thought. _Everything looks the same. I can see how you can easily get lost in here. What if I never find my way out? No, I can't think about that. There's always hope, I have to think positive. Let's see. . . well. . . uh, oh who am I kidding? I'll never get out of here. I'm completely lost. If I keep walking, I'm bound to get out of here somehow. I hope I find Sota. . . not just because I can't leave him here, but this wound it going to drive me nuts! He'd better show up sometime soon, or else I'm just gonna leave him here. No, no I can't do that. He saved me so I'd better be grateful._

_I still don't know why Sota left me here by myself alone. I know that he wouldn't just abandon me, so why?_

_Man. . . I'm so tired. . . I need to rest._

Sora decided to stop thinking for awhile. He knew that it would only create more questions that he would have to try to answer. He sighed and slowly dragged himself on as he grew even more tired. His eyes drooped closed a little so they were only half open.

He advanced into a larger area. He didn't pay any attention to what he was walking into until he felt water seep into his shoes. Startled, he jumped back. As he shook his feet to get the water out of his shoes, he noticed that he was standing in front of a pond.

Taking one look at the pond, Sora knew that it was just as dangerous as the rest of the Labyrinth. It looked like a place where children would accidentally fall in and drown, never to be found. Sora only hoped that he wouldn't end up like that.

The area had grown foggy, making it nearly impossible to see what lied ahead. Sora took another step into the water. With each step, his foot sunk deeper. _I wonder how deep this pond is. . . I hope not too deep. . . Deep means that more things could live in it. . . I'd better make this quick. _

Sora took a deep breath and advanced deeper into the dark water. He could feel the wet, soggy weeds brushing and slithering around his legs and shoes as if they were snakes. When the water went up to his chin, he kicked off the ground and then began to swim slowly across. He tried not to make too much noise in the water. He feared that if there was anything close, it would definitely hear him.

Just ahead, shrouded in the fog, the three Thompson brothers still stood. Zack pointed to the ripples that had just slid across the water's surface. "There has to be someone in there that's making these ripples."

Taylor added, "Or _something_."

Ryan quickly intervened, "It's definitely a person. No need to worry. Quite trying to scare each other."

"I wasn't saying it for a joke," Taylor told him. "I was being serious. . . What if whatever is in there isn't a person? What do we do then?"

Zack managed a weak smile. "Then we just defeat it. What else can we do, right?"

Ryan sighed mentally; it was bad enough that their confidence wasn't very high to begin with, but now, since they were scared, they were just making themselves look like bigger cowards. "Zack, you go to the left, and Taylor, you go to the right. I'll go forward, okay?"

"You want us to walk into this deadly pond?" the ebony-haired boy asked.

Ryan nodded at his younger brothers. "If anything happens, just call me on your walkie-talkie or if it's urgent, call for me. I'll come."

The two younger Thompson brothers looked at each other and nodded.

Ryan took the lead and then once again motioned for which ways he wanted his brothers to go. They followed his directions and the three began to sneak up on what was approaching them.

Sora continued to venture through the water. He was unsure why, but and eerie feeling had found its way into his chest. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what. Sora glanced around, but he didn't see anything, which didn't surprise him. Ever since Sora entered this death trap, he hadn't seen what lied ahead.

And still, that was what frightened him the most.

Continuing to swim, Sora paused. Something was wrapped around his ankle. He knew that it had to be a weed or some type of plant, but the feeling of it. . .

The fleshy feeling. . .

Sora shook his head. _No. . . I have to be positive. . . It's just a plant. . . It's just a plant. . . _He kicked his legs and whatever it was finally released him. He couldn't shake of the urge to get out of there as fast as he could.

Somewhere in the pond, Ryan was cautiously moving forward. He too felt as if something was wrong. He put his walkie-talkie to his mouth. "Did you find anything yet?"

Zack responded first. "Nope. Nothing but murky water and slimy plants."

Taylor was next. "I second that."

"Okay, well, keep looking until I tell you to stop. I think whatever it is. . . It's just up ahead of me. . . And I think it's getting closer. . ." Ryan whispered back to them.

"Okay. . . Be careful."

"You're telling me that, Zack?"

"Just don't get hurt."

"I won't." Ryan pulled away from his communication device and then quickly slid behind a rock when he saw a figure heading his way. He peeked around the rock to see who it was. Ryan quickly told his brothers, "It's Sora. He's heading my way. I'm more closer to the middle of the pond, so make your way towards me. I'll jump on him, and then you two can help me drag him back to the Kavern. We just may succeed in doing this yet."

"Gotcha," Zack replied.

"Finally, an easy mission," Taylor sighed.

"Don't be celebrating yet. Anything could happen," Ryan reminded them. "Just do what I said, and we should be set. I'm going in."

When he heard a voice, Sora paused. He knew that his mind was probably playing tricks on him, but he wanted to be sure. If it was a voice he heard, maybe it was Sota.

He opened his ears, but the voice never spoke again. _Shoot. . . Who was that. . ? Wait. . . _Sora's eyes widened and his heart sank when he heard another noise. It sounded like a moan. . . It had only lasted for a few seconds, but that was enough to get Sora moving again. Whatever it was, he didn't want to run into it.

He tried to be as calm as he could when he advanced forward. The water wasn't very deep anymore which meant that he was close to the shore. Whatever that noise was, as crazy as it may have sounded, the first thing that had come to Sora's mind was. . .

Suddenly, large arms were wrapping around him, trying to restrain him. Fearing what it was, Sora kicked his feet, sending water flying in every direction. He threw his one arm up and elbowed his attacker in the face. Whoever it was flinched, but still tried to hold him in place.

"Let go! Get off! Get~" Sora's head was dunked into the dirty water and he choked. When he opened his eyes and got a good look at what his feet were standing in, his eyes grew wide.

There were bodies. Tons of them. Some were stripped of their flesh and just bones were left. Their rotting flesh could easily be seen, and Sora's terror doubled when he saw their eyes; clouded over spheres of the dark abyss that was death.

Adrenaline shot through Sora's veins, and he found himself struggling even harder to get away now. The thought that he had been stepping all over the rotting bodies of those who passed scared him to death. He had to get out of that pond.

Him and his attacker clonked heads with each other and the person who had a hold of him finally let him go of him, giving him enough time to pull away. Sora spun around. He didn't recognize who had jumped him. It was someone new, and Sora could only guess that it was one of Kiari's minions.

Sora paused and locked eyes with the man who stood in front of him. He was a lot larger than he was, and looked a lot older too, like he was in his twenties. The two stared at each other for awhile, until Sora's eyes widened hugely once again. He was no longer focusing on his attacker, but what was behind him.

One of the bodies that had been lying at the bottom of the pond had arisen, and it was directly behind the man who stood in front of him. It was slowly making its way towards them, moaning like a zombie.

Sora pointed a shaky finger towards the being. He couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth.

When Ryan heard something moaning behind him, and the look of horror on Sora's face, he knew that something was approaching him from behind. He prepared himself and then spun around. As much as he had tried to calm himself, he almost screamed. He quickly took a few stumbling steps backward away from the approaching threat.

Suddenly, Ryan didn't care about capturing Sora anymore. The only thing he wanted was to find Zack and Taylor and head back to the Kavern.

They could be back with Joshua. With him, he knew that they'd always be safe.

Zombie.

That's what Sora had wanted to say to the man who had jumped on him. The thought of zombies lying beneath the soil in the pond was unbelievable. If there was another thing that Sora feared, it was zombies. The way they fed on human flesh . . How they just tore the living to pieces just to eat their insides. . . It was inhumane.

Sora knew that if he stayed at that pond any longer, he'd be doomed to a cursing death. He spun himself around, only to be overcome by fear again. Not only one of the dead bodies had arisen, but many more. They were slowly making there way towards him and the other guy that was beside him.

Knowing the only way to make it out in one piece, Sora quickly began to run. He didn't care if he was going forward or back. As long as he got out of that pond alive, nothing else mattered. He shot passed the man who had assaulted him and then swerved around the zombie that had headed towards him. The zombie let out a blood-curdling moan that made Sora move even faster. That was what had moaned earlier on. He knew that it sounded like a zombie, but he didn't want to believe it.

Killer vines. . .

The walking dead. . .

Those were only some of the things that could happen in the Dominion of Darkness.

When he heard two boys screaming, it made him pause. Sora looked around. He couldn't see them, but they were close.

Zack frantically pulled out his sword and slashed back and forth at the approaching zombies. He shakily pulled out his walkie-talkie and panicked, "Ryan! Taylor! We've got a problem! There's zombies everywhere! They're closing in on me! What do I do!?"

Some muffled screams that sounded like Taylor replied. "Ryan! Help!"

Next was Ryan's voice. "Just run! Zack! Taylor! Run! Get out of here! Go!"

One of the zombies got too close and Zack slashed it deeply across the gut, spilling its insides out and into the water.

Zack's stomach turned and he couldn't fight the urge to puke. He wiped his mouth with his arm and quickly went back to defending himself.

Sora continued to run. With each step he took, water splashed. He had to be near the shore. While he ran, he checked to see if anything was following him, and when he went to face the way he was going, he ran into someone and the two of them fell to the ground. At first, he immediately started fighting back, thinking that it was a zombie, but when he realized that it was a boy, he stopped.

He pushed Sora away, his eyes full of fear too. When Sora stood up, so did the boy. He grabbed his sword which he had dropped in the water and pointed it at Sora. "Did you see them?" he asked.

Sora blinked.

The boy looked to be about his age. He pointed his sword harder at Sora. "Answer me! Did you see my brothers or not?!"

Sora didn't answer. He was too busy staring at the zombies that were creeping up behind the boy. Just at the last moment, Sora was able to choke something out. "Behind you!"

It worked. The boy spun around just in time to stop a few of the zombies from lunging on him. But it wasn't to last. One of the zombies to the left snuck up on him, and planted its jaws right into the boy's neck.

The boy screamed out in pain, and desperately jerked away. A chunk of skin that covered the boy's neck ripped out, followed by a spray of blood. More zombies made there way towards the blood covered boy, wanting to feed off of him.

When he saw other zombies attack the helpless boy, Sora's heart sank into the abyss. He felt weak. . . Devoid of strength. The boy's screams sliced into Sora's heart like a sword. There was nothing Sora could do to help him.

Sickening feelings ravaging his stomach, Sora quickly ran off again. The undead around him were too busy tearing apart the boy's body. He ran and ran, suddenly tripping and falling to the ground with a splash.

The shore.

Sora had found it. Pulling himself back onto his feet, Sora walked a few steps away from the pond. He collapsed onto his haunches and sighed in relief. He had made it out in one piece. Closing his eyes, Sora tried to calm himself down.

Even now, he could hear the screams coming from pond. He could hear that boy's. . .

Sora opened his eyes. He was disgusted with himself. How could he leave that poor boy behind? How could he have just left him for dead?

_How could I do that? What am I turning into? I'm. . . What came over me? If that was Riku. . . Would I have stayed to help him. . ? Or. . . would I have saved myself. . ? Oh well. . . It's too late now. . . I'm sorry. . . I just hope that boy rests in peace._

When Sora stood up and turned around, he almost screamed when he ran into someone. At first, he thought it was a zombie, but then he realized that it was Sota.

Sora let out a deep sigh of relief. "Sota, it's you. I thought you were someone else for a moment. Phew, you scared me half to death. Where have you been? Why did you leave me behind?"

Sota shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know."

"Sota, did something happen? You don't look so good. Maybe you should re~" Sora's words were cut off. A sharp jolt of pain raced through his body. He felt a warm wetness spread onto his tank top. Sora glanced down.

There, going through his chest, was Sota's arm.

Blood poured out of the hole that was now formed in Sora's stomach. He could hear the sound of his own blood gushing out of his body.

Sora looked back up at Sota with glazed eyes. The man was smiling cruelly.

Sora could taste the blood in his mouth. When he opened it to speak, it spilled out and ran down his face and neck. Sora could only manage to say one word before Sota lifted his other hand and gripped Sora's neck.

"Why. . ?"

Sota cut off Sora's air supply. Sora could feel the own gleam in his eyes disappear. He couldn't move his body. It was frozen, in a moment of time, awaiting death.

Closing his eyes to blink, hot tears of pain clouded his already blurred vision.

Sora blinked his eyes back open, only to see that he was standing back in that same white room as before. He shook his head. Sota was gone.

_"__It seems that all you like to do is get caught into illusions."_

Glancing around, Sora asked again, "Who are you?"

Finally, the voice answered his question. "_I have many different names. Some people call me Destiny, Future, Will, Outcome, Fortune. . . but I prefer Fate above all of those."_

"Why is everything so white? This place. . .this whole place is so. . . magical," Sora breathed. "This place is so calming and warm."

_"__This place is Light, one of few. My brothers and sister share worlds like this. Only us and one other place has Light this pure. And that is the king of all kingdoms. The kingdom of the most purest Light."_

"Kingdom Hearts," Sora finished.

_"__That's right."_

Sora then realized that the Light was getting to him. He pulled himself together and asked, "Why am I here?"

_"__What, don't you like talking to me?"_

"No," Sora answered quickly, "it's not that. It's just. . . I'm curious. . . Why am I talking to someone like you, Fate? I mean. . . What's the catch?"

_"__Well Sora, I like you. I want to see how your tale unfolds."_

"Why?"

_"__I see potential in you. I think that you could really be one to defeat the Darkness."_

"You really think I can?"

_"__Sure, it's good for people to dream. Just try not to get stuck in anymore illusions. Next time, I may just not be quick enough to save you. Oh, and you may want to help the other three boys that were with you."_

Sora blinked. "What do you mean?"

_"__That thing with Sota was an illusion. And so were the zombies. You and those three boys got stuck in the same illusion. I just decided to save you from it, but those three boys, you can chose what to do with them. Better hurry, before they let their minds get swallowed in an abyss darker than death."_

"But~" Sora silenced himself when a bright Light shone and he was forced to cover his eyes.

Standing back where the illusion of Sota had tried to slaughter him, Sora looked around. Pacing carefully back towards the pond, he summoned his Keyblade. If what Fate had said was true, then the zombies had to be an illusion too. They weren't real, and never were. But those three guys back at the pond didn't know that. He could still hear some screams as he advanced closer to the dark water.

Some of the fog had cleared, and Sora found himself stepping back into the once frightening pond. _It was only an illusion. . . There aren't really bodies in this pond. . . Just don't think about it. I have to help those three guys. Bad or good, helping them is the right thing to do._

The first one Sora saw was the one who had attacked him earlier before the zombie situation. He had his weapon gripped tightly in one hand and was vehemently slashing back and forth. Insanity was imprinted in his wide open eyes.

Knowing that he would only succeeded in getting himself killed if he approached, Sora shouted from afar, "Hey! You! It's only an illusion! Snap out of it! Nothing that you see is happening!"

There was no change in the man's actions, and he continued to fight back against the fake monsters that were only a figment of his fears.

Sora sighed; it was going to be harder than he thought. Remembering the other boy that he had left for dead, Sora headed back the way he thought the boy was. His remembrance was correct when he saw the boy lying in the shallow water, kicking his legs violently. Seeing his sword in the water, Sora quickly kicked it away farther in case the boy tried to reach for his weapon.

The ebony-haired boy was clawing repeatedly at his body, as if trying to pry away invisible hands. Sora knew that the boy was still seeing himself being eaten by those inhumane creatures. "Hey," Sora grabbed the one boys arm to stop himself from putting another scratch on his body, "stop. It's only an illusion. The only thing that's hurting you is yourself. Just try to focus, and you'll be all right."

The boy screamed again, tears brimming at the corners of his eyes, and then shoved his one hand into Sora's face, as if trying to push him away. "No, it's okay! I'm not going to hurt you! I'm just trying to~"

The boy dug his nails into the flesh on Sora's cheek, making Sora grunt. Pulling away, a bit of anger found its way into Sora's system. He gave the boys hand a shove and then slapped the boy squarely across the face. "I said I'm trying to help you, damn it!"

He paused for a moment, as if stunned by the sudden action. The boy opened his two blue eyes widely and stared up at Sora.

The two stared at each other for a long moment before the boy jerked to the side and gave Sora a large shove. Falling back into the water, Sora backed away quickly, summoning his Keyblade.

The boy looked around frantically and then grabbed his weapon out of the water. He pointed his sword directly at Sora, a total look of fear and shock on his face. He panted lightly, and Sora knew that it was just a reaction of surprise.

Sora had his Keyblade ready in case the boy tried to strike him. Trying to avoid fighting, Sora slowly began to speak, "So. . . Uh. . . Do you know those two other guys here. . ?" Then he recalled what the boy had asked him when they were both caught in the illusion:

_"__Did you see my brothers or not?!"_

Sora thought for a moment. _Brothers. . . The three of them here. . . They're all brothers?_

He went on. "Uh. . . You and your brothers were caught in an illusion. . . The same one with me. The one with zombies. . . I was able to snap you back into reality. . . But your two brothers. . . They're still stuck in the illusion. You have to go and help them. . . The only thing that gets hurt in an illusion is yourself. You have to help each other before it's too late."

The ebony-haired boy blinked. He slowly took a step backward and then turned away. Before he ran off, he menacingly pointed his sword back at Sora and said, "Just this once, Sora." Then he ran off towards a scream that had sounded off in the distance.

Taking in a breath of relief, Sora stood up and then quickly ran back to the shore of the pond. He didn't to be caught in another zombie illusion, that was for sure, and he wasn't positive that that boy would let him go that easily.

_Now, to find Sota._

"Oh yeah! You think you can take me down! Be my guest!" Ryan hacked at the thin air over and over again.

"Ryan! Please!" Zack shouted once again.

"Snap out of it!" Taylor pleaded.

The two of them had been trying for hours to snap their older brother out of his trance. But everything they tried just wouldn't work. It was like something inside of their older brother had snapped, and he couldn't bring himself back.

"Please! Ryan!" they both begged. "It's just an illusion. . . Nothing more and nothing less. . . Come on, just forget about those zombies. . . They're not hurting you. . ."

Taylor continued. "Please, Dad's waiting for us back at home. . . If we don't return soon, he'll start to worry. . . You don't want to scare him, do you?" He took a few steps closer to his brother. "Ryan. . . Can't you hear us!?"

Ryan turned on him in an instant. His blade almost slashed into Taylor's chest when Zack blocked it with his sword. "Ryan! What are you doing!? Are you. . . Are you trying to become a monster!?"

Ryan paused. He blinked a few times and as a wave of realization flew over him, he lowered his weapon and fell to his knees. He took a deep breath and then sighed. Glancing up at his beloved younger brothers, he wrapped his arms around them. "Thank god. . . You're okay. . . It was just an illusion. . . I thought you were dead. . ."

Zack and Taylor hugged him back.

"Man. . . For a second I thought that you were losing it," Zack sighed.

"So did I. . . What happened to you?" Taylor questioned.

Ryan shook his head. "I heard you screaming. . . But I couldn't get out of the horde of zombies to find you. . . And I just got mad. . ."

"Well, it was all fake, and we're all okay, right?" Zack stated.

Ryan nodded and then stood up. "What happened to Sora?"

"He ran off," Taylor answered.

"Actually, he was the one that snapped me out of the illusion in the first place. I let him go after that. I just thought, since he helped us, we could spare him this time around. I thought he deserved it. I mean, he could have just left us for dead, but he decided to help us," Zack explained. "I didn't think he was like that. Since Kiari wants him, I figured that he was going be cruel and heartless just like her."

"So. . . Are we going after him?" Taylor asked. "I. . . I just want to go home. . ."

Ryan nodded. "No, we're going home. Joshua comes before Kiari. Like you said, he's probably worried about us. Let's go. I'm sick of this place. I'm never setting foot here again, and neither are you."

The three of them turned themselves around and started heading back the way they came, towards the Kavern.


	6. Chapter 6 - The Reminescense of the Past

**Day 16**

**The Reminiscence of Past Events**

Sora shook his head. After all night of searching, he still hadn't found Sota. He had found some footprints in the mud that he was sure belonged to him, but other than that, nothing. Just as he was about to give up, he could see something up ahead.

The exit to the Labyrinth.

He was finally free.

A smile spread out across his face and he suddenly found the energy to run. He quickly raced towards the exit and then jumped out of the deadly Labyrinth, as if it were going to close him in if he didn't hurry.

Sora collapsed into the soft grass. The only thing that mattered to him at that very moment was that he was out of that dreadful place. He was safe.

For now, at least.

Rolling over onto his back, he looked up at the dark sky. Even the sky looked more merciful than what it had been in the Labyrinth. He smiled, remembering when he and Riku would lie and stare at the stars in the sky, just above the waves that spread out across the sandy shore on Destiny Islands.

As much as he missed Riku, he knew he had to keep going.

He had to finish what he had began.

Sora cracked his neck and then sat up. Turning his back towards the Labyrinth, he studied his surroundings. At first, he thought his eyes were deceiving him, but he was wrong.

He was sitting just outside Kiari's Kavern. The large castle illuminated the Darkness that shrouded the rest of the distance. Just a few yards ahead of him stood Sota.

He was staring directly at the Kavern, his Keyblade in one hand. He was motionless.

Sora stood up and slowly advanced towards his friend. "Sota?" He stopped a few feet away from him. Watching Sota flex his fingers, he tried again, "Sota?"

Sota balled his fist and then let his fingers rest. He turned around. "Sora? You're alive."

"Of course I'm alive." Sora smiled, "Nothing can take me down that easily. But, where did you go? Why did you leave me all alone?"

Sota ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "I'm sorry. . . I got caught in an illusion. I followed him close to the exit of the Labyrinth until I finally realized that it was an illusion. I didn't mean to leave you back there alone. I'm just glad that you made it out of there alive."

Sora thought about the person who Sota was searching for. He still had never gotten an answer for the time he had asked about it. He tried once more. "Hey, the guy you're searching for, did you find any clues to where he is? Who is he again?"

Sota turned and stared up at the bright Kavern again. He seemed distracted by something, Sora noticed. But what?

Facing Sora again, Sota blew off the question. "You're not hurt are you? What happened to your side?" Sota knelt down and examined the wound.

"Oh that, I almost forgot." Sora pulled out Sota's pocket knife and handed it back to him. "You dropped this. I accidentally got stuck in an illusion and ended up stabbing myself."

"What were you doing. . ?" Sota asked. "This wound is all pussy and could already be infected."

Sora blinked. "I guess that it did get wet when I went through that pond. . ."

"You got pond water in it? Wow, you've got to be kidding me."

"Sorry, but I'm not."

"Do you have any knowledge on how to care for an injury?"

Sora shook his head. "I have the spell Curaga, but I'm only limited to use it once."

"I'm surprised that you were never killed yet," Sota sighed. "We'd better get this patched up, but I don't have any more bandages."

"How do you know so much about how to care for wounds? Are you some kind of doctor?" Sora questioned.

Sota was silent. He stood up and then answered, "My brother taught me some things."

Sora found himself suddenly interested. "You have a brother?"

He nodded.

"What's his name?"

"Bardroy."

"Bardroy Davis, huh?" Sora guessed. "Younger, or older?"

"Younger. A_lot _younger."

Sora smiled. He had always envied the friends of his who had younger and older siblings. Being an only child was horribly lonely, especially in the household where Sora had grown up with Anastasia. Cringing at the thought of that witch, Sora quickly continued to get his mind off of his sudden thought. "I would like to meet him sometime. If he's like you, then he would be pretty cool."

"Well," Sota began, "if you meet him, odds are you'll like him a lot better than me."

"How so?"

"Most just do, and I don't blame them. He's smarter, nicer, and isn't selfish."

Sora cocked his head. "You're not selfish."

Sota turned away from him. Looking back up at the Kavern, he disagreed. "Yeah I am."

The sixteen-year-old faced Sota's back and then looked up at the towering Kavern. "Sota. . . Why are you here? Why would somebody like you be purposely staying at a place like this? Don't you have a home, a family you belong to?"

A few moments of silence went by, and Sota finally answered, "No. . . I don't. The woman I love. . . Well, she's dead."

Sora felt a cloud of shame rain over him. He knew that he shouldn't have asked anything that personal. He lowered his head. "I'm sorry. . ."

"Don't be. It's better for me to be reminded of that. Sometimes. . . It's just better to accept it. She's dead. . . And so are all my other friends. . ."

Before he could stop himself, Sora found himself asking, "How?"

Sota breathed and then started, "It was during the Keyblade War."

"Keyblade War?" Sora immediately asked. Confusion flew into his head. "There was a Keyblade War? Where? When?"

"About twelve years ago, Kiari's parents wanted to be the ones in control of the Darkness. They challenged my friends and I, the followers of the Light, and that's when the battle known as the first Keyblade War began." Sota sighed sadly. "I. . . I was one of the only survivors."

"But you said that you were against Kiari's parents. . . There were only two of them. . . right? How many of you were there?" Sora asked.

"Indeed, we were up against just Kiari's parents. Her mother, Kira Capri, and her father, Joshua Capri. They fought against us. We won, but we did suffer casualties. . ." Sota ran his hand through his spiky blonde hair. "There were six of us, including myself. Darren and Runea Minamimoto~"

"Minamimoto!" Sora gasped. "Those were Riku's parents! Riku did say that they were dead. . ."

"Runea was killed by Joshua. . ."

"Oh. . . So that's what happened to her. . ."

"Anthony Livic was another one of our allies. Kira killed him," Sota said.

Sora shook his head. "That name doesn't ring a bell. Who else?"

"Well, Bardroy was there with me. He survived along with Darren and I. We were the only three who survived the fight."

"But, Riku told me that his father was dead. What happened to him?"

"Someone murdered him some time ago. His murderer was never identified."

Sora tried not to make eye contact with Sota after he had said that. _Riku was the one who killed his Dad. . . Sota doesn't know. . . I'm not going to tell him. It will just make things worse. _"I'm sorry. . . It must be awful to lose everyone you love at the same time. . . I should know. . ." Sora lowered his head for a moment and thought, _Riku and Kiari both were taken away from me at the same moment. . . Riku's dead. . . And Kiari's not the same. . . It's awful when you lose your friends. . ._

"There was one more. . ."

Sora urged Sota to tell him more. "Who?"

Sota was hesitant, but he finally said the person's name. "Sarah Davidson."

"Sarah Davidson. . ?" The name circled around Sora's brain a few times. He knew it too well. "That. . . That was my mother. . ."

"I know."

"She. . . My mother was a Keyblade Master? I never even knew. . ." He looked up at Sota and asked, "How did you know that she was my mother?"

"She told me that she had a son waiting for her back at home. A boy named Sora," Sota explained. "When I saw you, I knew right away that you were her son."

"How?"

"Only Sarah Davidson had eyes like yours. You look a lot like her," Sota replied.

"Really?" Sora asked.

Sota nodded. "Yeah."

"Did. . ."

"What?"

"Did. . . did something happen to my mother in the Keyblade War?" Sora questioned.

"Yeah. . ." Sota answered, lowering is head.

"What happened to her?" Sora asked, prepared to know the answer.

"She. . . she died. . ." Sota told him. "She and Kiari's father, Joshua, stabbed each other. She died right after that. . ."

A small tear rolled down Sora's cheek. He quickly wiped it away with his arm. "All of these years. . . I thought my mom died in some accident. But, she really died in a line of duty. She died protecting everyone. . . protecting me. . ." Sora looked Sota in the eye and then asked, "Did you know anyone else by Davidson?"

Sota shook his head. "No, Sarah was the only one I knew."

Sora lowered his head. He managed a smile. "So. . . You really were in a war, huh? That must have been awesome to participate in something like that and live to tell the tale."

It was meant to be more of a silly joke, but Sora saw Sota narrow his eyes. "I can tell that our opinion about war is very different from each others, so there really isn't any reason why we should discuss this any further. But, I will tell you this as a warning. War is no game. Think about it. The same kids you went to school with. The same group of friends you hung out with your whole life, getting killed right in front of your very eyes. Kira and Joshua were good friends with me and everyone else I knew, but they betrayed us and killed us for their own sick pleasures. War isn't fun. War is a fight to the death. I just hope that you won't have to mixed up into one. But the way things are looking, I think you may just have to," Sota told him. "Hopefully if you do, you're ready for it."

"Don't worry," Sora said confidently, "I will be."

The conversation came to an end, and then Sota looked back up at the glowing Kavern. Sora thought about some things. _What is he looking at. . ? Something must be in there. . . And whatever it is, he sure as Hell wants to fight it, that's for sure. He's hardly taken his eyes off that place to even look at me. I wonder what he's hiding?_

"Sora?"

Sora blinked and then looked up at Sota who was looking down at him. "Yeah?"

"You said you wanted to meet my brother?"

"Bardroy?" Sora nodded.

"Well, there's a Keyhole that links to his world. If we find it, I can take you there to meet him. He has a house in a forest where I'm sure he'll let us stay. We can rest and tend to your wounds. What do you say?"

The smile was already plastered on Sora's face. "That would be great!"

Sota smiled. "Good. Let's get moving. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

"Me too," Sora agreed. Just before they turned their backs on the Kavern, Sora turned around and looked back up at the light that poured through the windows.

He couldn't help to notice the sudden figure of a person staring down at him from the window. Whoever it was looked at Sora, and then slowly stepped away from the window and disappeared.

Whoever it had been, the glare that Sora had received from the figure was enough to send him on his way.

_Where the hell are they taking her!? Why do they want my little girl?_

The man slid to a stop and tried to catch his breath. Moments ago, two strange people had broke into his home and abducted his daughter. They fled into the forest before the man could do anything.

Before, he could hear his daughter screaming, calling for him, but now, all was silent. It was as if she had vanished into thin air. The man took a deep breath and then called out, "Emily! Where are you? Please, answer me!"

When he got no reply, he muttered a few curses and then quickly raced off again. The thought of what they may be doing to his daughter terrified him the most. He had to find out where they had gone.

He headed deeper into the forest, knowing that the two people had been in this area. He looked around and shouted once again. "Emily!" The man was just about to continue off in the other direction, when something caught his eye.

There was a Keyhole carved into the bark of a tree.

The man blinked and then stepped over to it. Placing his hand on the carving, he examined it. It didn't take him long to figure out that it was portal that lead to another world. _So. . . This is one of the Keyholes that links to other worlds? This must be where they took Emily. If that's so, that would explain why I can't hear her anymore._

The man called forth his magical weapon, a Keyblade, and pointed it at the Keyhole. When he heard the snap as if something had unlocked, the Keyhole expanded and then grew as big as the tree.

Studying the doorway for a moment, he finally decided to step into the bright Light.

He stepped out into a familiar place. You could feel the Darkness in the air. The man was standing just outside of a forest; the one he knew was called the Black Forest. His eyes scanned the path that led a long way across the land and then finally to a large castle.

_This is Kira's Castle. . . right? I thought it was abandoned. . . Something big must be up. Whoever took my daughter must live here. . . _The man suddenly got a heart-racing thought. _What if Joshua's here? _Squeezing his Keyblade tightly in his hand, he started down the path that led to the large structure ahead of him. _Don't worry Miranda, I'll get her back. _

_I'm coming Emily._

"You idiots! How the hell could you let him get away!?"

"We told you! We didn't mean to!" Zack said. "It was just a mistake."

"Give us another chance!" Taylor pleaded. "Please?"

Kiari rolled his eyes and then slapped the two boys across the face, sending them to the floor. She stepped passed them and then approached Ryan. "Tell me, what happened? I've heard enough from those two imbeciles."

"Please, try to forgive us. We were on Sora's trail, but we got stuck in an illusion and lost him. It took awhile for us to break out of the illusion. We're sorry," Ryan explained. He promised himself that he would never go to his knees and beg to Kiari about anything. It was Joshua's castle, not hers. She wasn't supposed to be in charge at all.

"Hmm. . . Fine, since I'm feeling merciful today, I'll let you off the hook his time. But don't think I will next time," Kiari told them.

Ryan nodded. "Yes, Mistress Kiari."

"Take those two and get moving. I don't care how long it takes, but next time you return, I want to see Sora captured and in the cell in my room. Understand?"

The Thompson's nodded.

"I'll give you about a half an hour to recuperate, but after that, if I even see you in this castle, I'll just kill you on the spot. Now go," Kiari pointed towards the door and the Thompson boy's quickly walked out of the room.


	7. Chapter 7 - The Truth Comes Out

**Day 17**

**The Truth Comes Out**

The bright morning sun shone. Sora wanted ever so badly to close his eyes and fall asleep, but Sota urged him on.

"How long until we get to the house?" It had taken them almost a day to find the Keyhole, and the hours just kept passing by while they searched for the house.

"Just follow me. We'll be there soon, just be patient," Sota told him.

Sora yawned and rubbed his eyes again. He tried to figure out how many days it had been since he had slept properly. He counted on his fingers, but the numbers just wouldn't add up. His legs felt as if they were about to give out when Sota stated, "There's the house."

Sora glanced up and saw the large cabin ahead. "Thank god. . . So Bardroy lives there?"

Sota nodded.

The two of them approached the porch, Sota going first. He knocked on the door. "Hey Bardroy, it's me, Sota. Open the door."

He waited a few moments before starting again. "Bardroy? Come on. Miranda? I just want to rest. I have a kid with me and he's hurt. Just let me in and I promise I'll be gone in the morning." Sota pounded his fist on the door when he realized that the door wasn't even closed. He blinked a few times and then pushed the door open and entered the house without delay. Sora followed him.

The first thing that Sora saw that appealed to him was the couch that sat in what was probably the living room. He lunged onto it, and sighed deeply. "Finally. . . I can sleep at last. . ." He watched as Sota paced around the house, and checked most of the rooms before he headed up the staircase. When he came back down, he looked like he was in deep thought.

"What's the matter? Where's your brother?" Sora asked.

"I don't know. . . It's obvious that he's gone, but it seemed like he left in a rush. Miranda's not here either. . ." Sota answered.

"Miranda?"

"That's Bardroy's girlfriend. . . Or well, I guess that she would probably be his wife now. . ."

"You _guess_ she would be?"

"It's been a long time since I saw my brother, okay?" Sota sighed.

"How long are we talking?"

Sota counted on his fingers. "Twelve years."

"It's been twelve years since you saw him? How do you even know he still lives here?"

"I don't know that. I'm just guessing."

"Wow, you're not really sure what's going on, do you?" Sora asked.

"No, not really. My family. . . Heh, Bardroy's pretty much the only guy I got left," Sota said. "I'm gonna head out into the woods and see if I run into him. I can't imagine that he went anywhere else. Miranda and him probably just took a walk. As for you, you can have your rest. Just let me bandage your wound first."

Sora nodded and forced himself to sit up. He slipped off his shirt and tank top and tossed them aside. He waited patiently until Sota was done wrapping bandages around his wound and then he lied back down.

Sota stood up. "Like I said, I'll be back. You can rest now."

Yawning, Sora stared up at the ceiling. Even though it was morning and the sun was bright outside, he knew that he could fall asleep. He thought about everything that had happened, everything he'd been through.

He thought about the three boys back in the Labyrinth. Somehow, he was happy that he had helped him. Though they were his enemies, he was glad that he had saved their lives. Somehow, knowing that he had helped someone instead of hurting them, he was finally able to rest.

The sound of thunder rumbling in the sky awoke Sora from his deep slumber. Forgetting where he was, the sixteen-year-old quickly jumped up and looked around. Once he took in his surroundings, he sighed in relief.

_Oh right, Bardroy's house. Phew. . . I almost forgot. Scared myself there for a second. . . I wonder. . . Is Sota back yet?_

Sora paced around the living room and whispered, "Sota? You here?"

A flash of lightning was the only thing that replied. Sora stretched. "I guess not. I wonder if he's still out searching for Bardroy. . ." Glancing around the dark house, Sora thought, _I doubt that Sota would care if I took a look around. . ._

Exiting the living room and heading up the staircase, Sora made his way into what was the master bedroom. He looked out the window and gazed out into the backyard to see if Sota was out there. When he didn't see the man, he continued back to snooping around. _I'm such a snoop. . . I could get in big trouble for this. . . Oh well, Sota said that Bardroy was an understanding guy. If he finds out, I'll just explain to him that I was bored and curious. _

Sora picked up a picture frame that was lying face down on a dresser. He wiped the coating of dust away so he could see the photo. Two men stood with each other, their arms around each others shoulders. One of them was Sota, and just by the look of the other man, Sora could tell that it was Bardroy. The two of them had some characteristics that were somewhat alike, but overall, the two could have been mistaken for just friends and not brothers.

Sitting the picture back down on the stand, Sora paced out of what he was sure was Bardroy's bedroom and then glided down the stairs. He hoped that Sota wasn't back. He didn't want to be lectured and accused for sneaking around.

He was going to flop back down on the couch, but another photo was sitting on a stand across from the comfy piece of furniture. There was just enough moonlight coming from the window for him to get a glance of it, and by the looks of it, there were a bunch of people on this photo. Curiosity struck him first and before he knew it, he was holding the old picture frame in his hand. He studied the people in the photo.

There were six people in the photograph. To the left stood a brutish ebony-haired man and a petite blonde woman. Nothing really stuck out with them, but there was one thing. The woman, her aquamarine eyes were very familiar. Sora blinked a few times before he realized that the woman in the picture shared the same eyes as Riku.

Smiling, Sora realized that that was Riku's mother, Runea. She was very beautiful, Sora had to admit. The man that stood next to her must have been Riku's father. He could tell, the man had as much muscle as Flexis. Riku had definitely inherited his father's muscular build and his mother's lovely eyes.

Just next to the Minamimoto's stood a child. He had to have only been about ten years old. He was holding a baby who was small enough to only be about a month old. Not recognizing the boy or the baby, Sora skimmed across the page to the lone person who stood on the right. Again, there wasn't that much to know about him. Trying to remember the names that Sota had mentioned, Sora guessed that the man was Anthony.

Finally, his blue eyes scanned to the last two people who stood in the middle of the photo. The first person he immediately recognized as Sota, but as for the woman who was standing next to him, he was unsure.

Whoever she was, she was incredibly familiar. Everything from her smooth brown hair to her bright blue eyes reminded him of someone. . . Reminded him of himself. Then it hit him.

It was his mother, Sarah Davidson.

He stared at the photo for a long while, as if he were in a trance. It had been such a long time since he had laid eyes on his mother that he was surprised that he remembered it was her. A deep pit formed in his stomach when he recalled what Sota had said.

His mother was dead.

He was never going to see her again. Sora thought about how long he had waited for his mother to return. And for what? Here, it was all for nothing. Ever since she had left him, he hoped that he would see her again, but now, he knew that she was dead.

Sora lowered his head and let some tears fall down his cheeks. The promise that his mother had made to him had been broken. He wiped his tears away and then went to sit the photo back down on the small stand. When he went to turn away, he furrowed his brow and then looked back at the photograph.

The four men (including the boy) were all dressed in tuxedo's, and he took notice that the two women were wearing dresses. His mother was wearing a beautiful white dress that looked a lot like one you would wear when you were getting married.

Setting the photo back down, Sora opened the drawer on the stand. He found a few more pictures and then held them up. It was hard to make them out in the dark room. Stepping closer to the open window, he held the picture in the moonlight and examined it. It was much easier to see in the moonlight.

In this picture, his mother had her arms wrapped around Sota and they were both smiling happily. Sora blinked. _Huh. . ? What's Sota doing with my mother. . ? _He went to the next picture in the stack and wondered the same thing. Sota was holding Sora's mother bridal style and she was placing a kiss on his cheek.

Sora's heart raced. He flipped through the pictures one by one, scanning them wildly. In one of them, his mother and Sota were kissing each other.

Sora breathed heavily. Questions that he couldn't answer filled his head: _Why. . . Why is my mom with Sota? Why. . . Why are they together? Were they in love once. . ? I don't understand. . . What is going on? Is. . ._

_Is Sota my. . ?_

Sora flipped the last picture over to the back and his heart paused at the words that were written on the back:

November 15th

Destiny Islands

Sota Davidson

Sarah Sinclair

Just Married

Sora's whole being felt numb. He could have swore that his heart stopped beating and the blood pumping through his veins halted. His eyes grew wide and his breath hitched.

Sora refused to believe it. Once he could get his body to move, he tossed the pictures back into the drawer and then slammed it shut. He stared out the window, breathing heavily, trying to calm himself down.

Putting his hands up to his head, Sora repeated over and over to himself, "It can't be him. . . It can't be him. . . It's not him. . . It's not. . ."

Sora could hear footsteps approaching behind him followed by a familiar voice. "Just had to go sneaking around, huh?"

Spinning around and meeting his green eyes, Sora sent Sota a glare.

"Why so mad?" Sota asked.

"You've been lying to me, haven't you?"

Sota nodded. "Yeah. . ."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "There's more to who you are than I know, isn't there? So, just how much of a liar are you? How long have you been lying to me?"

"Well. . . I've been lying about myself, about who I am, where I live, my past, my name. . . If you figured out who I am yet, you're smarter than I expected." Sota sighed. "My last name isn't Davis. My real name is Sota Davidson."

Sora knew that Sota saw the pain and shock that flickered in his expression. He didn't want to face the truth that Sota was about to tell him, even though he'd be living a lie if he refused to believe it.

Sora's heart sunk into a deep abyss when Sota finally revealed, "I'm your father, Sora."

Shaking his head, Sora looked up at Sota, shock and disbelief being the only things that could be read in his expression. "No. . . You're lying. . . You can't be him. . . He. . . He's nothing like you. . . He. . . He's totally different. . ."

"Sora. . . I've changed. . ."

"No. . ."

"I'm sorry to say that I'm not lying this time. If there was any way that I could have stayed out of your life, I would have. It's just that~"

He couldn't bear it anymore. "_No_!" he screamed as he charged out of the house.

"Sora, wait!"

Dashing out the door and into the dark forest, Sora didn't look back. He couldn't. He knew that he wasn't going to get far. This heart was aching with agony, a pain that came from his past, and couldn't be healed. His energy slowly began to deplete, and Sota grabbed onto his jacket hood, pulling him back. Sora struggled to get away with all he had.

"Sora! Stop it! Stop fighting me!" Sota's voice softened when he realized that yelling was only going to make it worse. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"And how do I know that?" Sora pulled away and spun around.

"I've never hurt you before."

"Yes you have."

Sota narrowed his eyes and grabbed Sora's arm. "Oh yeah, when?"

"You've been hurting me all your life and you didn't even know." Sora pulled his arm out of Sota's grasp. "Have you ever stopped to think about how I feel?"

"I have."

"You liar. You've never thought about me once. All you want to do is hurt me even more." Sora looked away from his father. "Why did you choose to come back now? It would have been better if you were gone!"

"At least I came back," Sota told him. "Things were. . . Things were different back then."

"Things are no different now then they were before! Why? How could you let Mom die!?"

Sota stomped after him and forcefully shoved his son into a tree. "You listen to me," he hissed, "I tried desperately hard to save your mother in that war. She was the one who wanted to get revenge on Joshua. I told her not to confront Joshua alone, but she wouldn't listen to me. I watched her get stabbed. . . I held her in my arms when she died. . . And Joshua got away."

Tears rolled down Sora's face. "But what happened to you. . ? Why didn't you come home? Do you have any idea how long I waited for you and Mom to return!?" Clenching his fists, Sora yelled, "Don't you love us!"

Sota's expression wavered and then he sighed. "Sora. . . I love you both. . . When your mother died. . . I lost it. . . I couldn't bear the thought of not being with her. . . I know that I didn't show it, but I care about you. Please. . . You're the only one I have left. . . Bardroy and Miranda are nowhere to be found. . . You are the only one left. Just listen to me for once. Everything will make sense once I explain it to you."

"And why would I listen to you!?" Sora shouted. "Ever since I was born you've been lying to me. . . Rejecting me. . . I just want you to disappear! Why can't you _just die_!"

Shock and pain was clearly read on Sota's face at he remark he had just received. Sora stared at him for a moment, and then watched as the man summoned his Keyblade.

Sora's heart raced ever so quickly in his chest. He couldn't get his body to move. When Sota stood in a stance that he knew way too well, Sora's eyes widened. _He's. . . He's going to kill me. . . I should have known from the start that he was faking it. . . Oh well. . . Nothing really matters anymore anyway. . ._

_I killed Riku. . ._

_My life doesn't really have a purpose now. . ._

Sora looked up and stared into Sota's green eyes. He watched as they slid to left quickly and then he spun around. Sota clashed his weapon into the sudden attacker who had lunged at him. Giving the first person a shove back, he stepped out of the reach of the sword that was swung at him. He blocked the final attack that was aimed upon him.

Blinking rapidly, Sora looked around. Just across from him and Sota stood three boys. The three boys that he had saved in the Labyrinth.

Sota stood up erect, his Keyblade never disappearing from his side. "I knew there was someone here,."

Sora couldn't even manage to ask why they were there. He was too mixed up in his thoughts. Everything had happened so quickly.

"You three. . ." Sota began, "You're those Thompson boys, aren't you? Ryan, Zack. . . And I think the last one's name is Taylor. What do you want?"

Ryan stepped out in front of his younger brothers. "We came for Sora. If you get in our way, we'll kill you."

"How frightening." Sota's voice was full of sarcasm. He rolled his eyes. "You expect me to just give this boy up to _you_? You must be joking."

"I didn't say that we wouldn't fight for him," Ryan said, summoning his Keyblade. Behind him, Zack unsheathed his sword and Taylor also called forth his weapon to his hand. It was a Keyblade also.

Sota sighed. Without taking his eyes of the three Thompson boys, he said, "You really want to fight me? If you do, you may just regret it."

Ryan ignored him. "Zack, Taylor, go!" The two younger boys both ran to the side and into the woods. Zack went left and Taylor went right. Ryan ran towards Sota, his Keyblade in hand and went to slash him. Sota jumped backwards and then did a few flips until he out of Ryan's weapon's reach.

Without looking at his son, Sota began, "Listen to me, Sora. I need you to cooperate with me for now. I know that you have other thoughts on your mind, but if you just team up with me this once, then I promise that I'll explain everything to you. But right now, I need your help."

Sora didn't respond.

"I'm serious, Sora. Your foolishness could cost us our~" Sota gasped when he realized that Sora wasn't even there.

Ryan let out a laugh.

With narrowed eyes, Sota asked, "What's so funny?"

"If you're looking for Sora, he slipped off into the woods a couple minutes ago while you were distracted," Ryan said. "Good luck trying to find him."

Sota gave Ryan a nasty glare just before dashing away into the woods.

Sora collapsed and grabbed onto a tree to help him onto his feet. He panted as sweat rolled down his face. Once the chance finally came, he had sneaked out of there, leaving Sota and the others behind.

Everything had all started at once that Sora didn't know what to think anymore. He didn't want to be with Sota anymore. He couldn't bear it. There were to many sad memories to think about when Sota. . . when his father was around. Sora knew that being around any of them wasn't safe anymore. If the three boys, Ryan, Zack, and Taylor, caught him, they would immediately take him to Kiari without any hesitation at all. If Sota found him. . . who knows what the man would do to him?He knew that he was in no condition to fight. His thoughts had drained him empty.

So far, everyone had lied to him. Kiari, probably Riku, Sota. . . everyone. There was no one to trust anymore.

Gathering up the energy that he had left, Sora got onto his feet and ran. He ran until his legs gave out and he fell to the ground. This time, he didn't get up right away. Tears streamed down his face.

What was he supposed to do? The only thing that was processing through his head at that moment was Sota. He still couldn't believe that Sota was his father. As true as it was, Sora wished that it was all just a dream. Everything that he'd been through. . . He prayed that one day he would just wake up back on the islands with Riku and Kiari, and they'd all be the same as they were before. Nothing would have to change.

Sora lifted his head up when he heard the snapping of twigs growing louder. Before he knew it, the ebony-haired boy that he had saved in the Labyrinth was on top of him. Remembering the three boy's names, Sora figured that this one was Zack.

Throwing himself on Sora's back, the boy known as Zack grabbed Sora's arms and pinned him down. He placed himself firmly on Sora's back and then held him in place.

Zack smiled in victory; he had captured Sora all by himself. Ryan and Taylor had no choice but to believe in him now. Carefully pulling out his walkie-talkie, he spoke into it. "Hey Taylor, I got him. I caught Sora!"

"Really? How'd you manage to do that?" Taylor's voice responded.

"I'm awesome, that's how!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm on my way. Ryan should be around too so we'll just wait for him."

"Gotcha." Zack pocketed his walkie-talkie and then looked down at Sora.

Sora stared back up into Zack's blue eyes. He could almost see a sign of regret in them, but he quickly dismissed the thought when he heard someone calling his name.

"Sora!"

His heart beginning to race, Sora knew that the voice belonged to Sota. _No. . . I can't let Sota catch me again! I'll never get away if he does! I'll never be free of him! _He hastily lifted his foot in the air and then kicked Zack in the side of head.

"Ow!" Zack grunted, clutching his head. Sora took that act to his advantage. He pulled his arms out of Zack's weakened grasp and then shook the black-haired boy off of himself. Jumping to his feet, Sora fled into the forest.

Taylor arrived just in time to see Sora disappear into the woods. He looked down at his brother. "You idiot! You let him get away!"

"Uh, hello!? Did you not just see what he did to me? He kicked me in the head!"

"We won't have heads if we fail this mission!" Taylor shouted. "Do you have any idea what Kiari might do to us if we fail? She'll kill us for sure! Or maybe even worse. . ."

Zack's eyes widened. He hated when his imagination would act without warning. "You're right. We have to go after him. He couldn't have gotten that far! Let's go!"

Sora ran faster and faster until he stumbled over a log and then tumbled down a steep cliff and into a creek. He could hear Zack and the other boy who must have been Taylor behind him, getting closer and closer each second. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to get away quick enough, he hid himself in a patch of weeds. He ducked to the ground and tried to calm his breaths.

Next thing he knew, Zack and Taylor were toppling down the slope and then splashing into the creek also. Zack was lying on top of his brother. "Get off of me you fag!" Taylor shouted.

"Sorry about that!" Zack apologized, pulling his brother to his feet.

"You could have told me that there was a log up ahead. Then, maybe I wouldn't have tripped."

"I would have told you if I would have seen it."

"What, are you blind?"

"Enough of this!" Zack snapped. "Where do you suppose Sora went?"

"Perhaps he went that way," Taylor suggested, pointing north. "He didn't seem to be heading any other way besides that way."

"Maybe," Zack nodded. "Let's try that way, and if we don't see him, let's come back. After all, we need to find Ryan, and that other guy, Sota, is still running around too."

When Zack and Taylor ran off, Sora began to stand up slowly. Once he arose halfway up, hebacked away and then spun around to run. When he did, he banged into someone. His eyes widened when he realized that it was Sota.

"Found you. Hiding isn't going to work," Sota said.

Narrowing his eyes, Sora stared at Sota with a glare. Sota eyed him back with a dark frown. The sixteen-year-old stepped away from him slowly and then went to turn away.

"And where do you think you're going?" Sota asked, grabbing Sora's arm.

"Let go of me!" Sora demanded.

"Oh, you're giving me demands?" Sota questioned. "You've got guts. You and I are a lot alike."

"Shut up!" Sora screamed, ripping his arm out of Sota's grasp. "You and I are _nothing_ alike! Just go the hell away!"

Sora couldn't stop his anger from growing. He balled his fist and then went to punch his father in the face. Sota stopped it with hardly any effort. "If you're going to land a punch on someone, then do it when they're not expecting it."

With his other hand, Sora began to pound his fist on Sota's chest, hard at first but then softer. He shook his head back and forth as he did it. Every time Sota spoke, Sora's heart would ache and his hate would grow even more, as if Sota's words were the fuel that was feeding Sora's fire. A few more tears slipped down Sora's face and he finally stopped trying to hit his father.

Sota released his other hand. "Anger won't get you anywhere. I know that for a fact," Sota said. He released both of Sora's hands.

Sora just stood there, lost in his anger and hate. He didn't even look up when Sota said, "We've got company."

Ryan, Zack, and Taylor circled them, their weapons all ready for battle.

Sota turned around and looked at Sora. "Sora please, you have to fight back against these guys. You can't let them catch you. Running won't solve your problems. You have to face them sooner or later."

Sora made no move. He just continued to clench his fists at his sides. His eyes were full of a dark force that wanted to be released. Only the smallest bit of Light was holding it back from breaking free.

"Sora, I told you. Anger will get you nowhere. You have to listen~"

"No! You listen! What. . . What do you want from me? If you want me to forgive you then it's too late! I may be stupid, but I'm not as stupid as you think! I'm smart enough not to be tricked by you again! I'm guessing that you want revenge on someone and I don't know who, but you can just leave me out of it! I don't care about any of that!" Sora pointed a shaky finger at Sota. "I don't care about where you were for the last twelve years, I don't care about what you're after, and I especially don't care about _you_! Now piss off and just leave me alone! I can't trust anyone anymore. . . The only one I can trust. . . is myself."

Sota was silent.

After a few seconds of silence, Sora quickly headed for the woods again.

As he watched Sora run off, Ryan got an idea. He turned to his brother. "Hey Zack, give me your sword."

Zack blinked. "What for?"

"Just give it to me!" Ryan demanded. The black-haired boy handed it over instantly. Ryan held it up like a javelin, its sharp end pointing in the direction of Sora.

Sota looked at the running Sora and then at the blade. At the precise time Ryan threw the sword, Sota found himself racing towards his fleeing son. "Sora, get down!" Sota screamed.

It wasn't to his surprise that Sora didn't listen to him. The blade went closer and closer to Sora's back.

Crimson red blood spilled onto the ground.

Sora laid there, his eyes full of shock. Sota stood in front of him with widened eyes. They both stared at the blade impaled through Sota's body.

Ryan smiled. "It worked."

The two younger Thompson boys were in shock at first at what Ryan had did, but, remembering what their mission was and what Kiari would do to them if they failed, they realized why.

"So. . . You had a plan this whole time, didn't you?" Zack asked.

Ryan nodded. "I knew that if I aimed for Sora, Sota would interfere and take the blow. That would give us the advantage. And looks like we got it."

Sota went down on one knee. When the sword had stabbed him through, it had entered through his back and then protruded through his gut. He reached for the handle of the blade desperately and then finally got a good grip on it. Sota ripped the sword out of himself painfully and then gave it a toss into the woods.

Sora had fallen back onto the ground at the realization that his father had probably just saved his life. The spiky-haired boy was speechless at first, but then he managed to stammer, "W-Why. . . Why would you do that. . ? This isn't fair. . . I. . . I never asked for you to save me!"

Sota bit his lip and placed his hand over the wound. "Well. . . It is the duty of a parent to protect their child. . . Isn't it?"

Sora's heart twisted in an agony that he couldn't describe when Sota said that.

Before Sota could say anything else, he was forced to spin around. He didn't have any time to summon his Keyblade, so he had to stop Ryan's next swipe with his hands. The sharp part of Ryan's weapon dug into the flesh of his palms.

"Taylor!" Ryan shouted. "Finish him!"

The youngest of the three Thompson brothers came charging from the right, his Keyblade ready to strike. Still using one of his hands to block Ryan's attack, Sota quickly threw his arm upward to shield his head from Taylor's slash. Instead of the weapon stabbing into his skull, it sliced into Sota's arm and got stuck in the bone. He knew that it was a matter of time before the two weapons would hack through his hands and then saw through his arms.

Sora stood in a frozen stance. He couldn't get his body to move. He had never cared for his father at all, but would the sight of him being killed be too much to watch? Or would it be the guilt that would consume Sora first?

Moments passed and then Sota finally yelled, "Sora! What are you doing!? Help me!"

Sora's heart lurched.

"Sora! You have to heal me! I know that it's asking a lot, but if they kill me, they'll just capture you and kill you later! You have to trust me! Please! Just help me!"

Scared and confused, Sora stood frozen.

"_Sora_!"

Sota's screams and pleads echoed throughout his head. All of the sudden, he was standing in the pure white room, and Fate was speaking to him.

_"__Why can't you choose?"_

"Fate. . . I'm so confused. . ."

_"__Why?"_

"It's Sota. . ."

_"__You know he's your father, right? So then, why do you call him by his first name?"_

"Don't call him that. He's nothing close to a father. . . just a nightmare that's come back to haunt me. . ."

_"__Do you really want him to die?"_

"I don't know. . . He doesn't care. . ." Sora said.

_"__He's your father, Sora. Believe it or not, he cares about you. He doesn't want to lose you."_

"That's a lie, he never cared about me."

_"__Have you ever thought that maybe he just hasn't got to tell you the truth yet?"_

"Yeah right," Sora doubted. "Why am I even talking to you? It's not like you know how rough my life has been."

_"__Sora, I have seen the past. I know the present. And, I also choose what will happen in the future. I know how your story unfolds, and I know everything that you've already been through. Believe me when I say this; in your future, many good and bad things will happen to you. But all will lead you to one ending. Will you succumb the Darkness, or will you stay in the Light?"_

"Bad things? Like what?" Sora asked. He needed to know what would happen so that if he could, he would stop it.

_"__Sorry, but I can't tell you. It's just a rule. If I tell you anything that is to happen to you in your future, I'll be punished and stripped of my place."_

"But why? I have to know. I have the right to know," Sora protested. "It's my life!"

_"__Sorry, but I just can't. Now, you must go, and make your choice."_

"But, if you know everything, you already know what I'll choose. Why not just tell me?" Sora asked.

Fate never did have to answer Sora's question, for he knew, deep down in his heart that he knew the answer.

Sota's voice was full of desperation. "_Sora_! _Please_!"

Sora summoned his Keyblade and raced towards Sota. Zack had reclaimed his sword that had been thrown in the woods and he was just about to strike Sota. Sora clashed his weapon against Zack's sword and gave him a shove back. He elbowed Taylor in the head, knocking him off balance, and then he helped Sota push Ryan away. Once he could, Sora held his Keyblade into the air and commanded, "Heal!"

A bright green, magical light shone around Sora and Sota. The magic seeped into their bodies and then healed whatever wounds they had instantly. Their used strength was soon regained, and then Sota stood up.

He smiled at his son in relief. "Thanks."

Sora pointed a firm finger at his father. "Don't think that I saved you because I care," he hissed. "The only reason I decided to help you was because I want to hear the explanation that you have for me. I'll decide whether or not I believe you after I hear what you have to say. But as for right now, you're still just a threat to me."

Sota shrugged. "Eh, fair enough. Don't worry, when I can, I'll tell you everything. You won't be disappointed after I do."

"Uh, hello, we're still here," Taylor interrupted.

"But first," Sota continued, "we have to get rid of these guys first. I want you to stay out of this battle. I can handle this."

"What? No. We're fighting together," Sora said, shaking his head.

"Sora, I'm doing this for your own sake. You can't afford to get hurt now. You're too important."

"But, what are you~ Look out!" Sora cried.

Sota blocked Ryan's sudden slash and gave him a shove back when Zack ran after him next. Parrying the swipe by the sword, Sota stepped out of the way of Taylor's attack. The three continued to go after him, all of them attempting to slaughter the man.

Sora stood, knowing that he should help out with the battle. Even if it meant that he would get injured in the process, he wanted to help. Too many allies had already died.

Stepping forward with his Keyblade ready in his hand, he slashed at the youngest boy and then swerved to the right when he was slashed at by Zack. Him and Zack tried to wound each other, but both were too fast for each others blade. While he was fighting Zack, Sora glanced over to Sota.

Ryan had him backed up against a tree and was haphazardly slashing at him. Sota parried each attack swiftly, and was trying to take every moment he had to get out of the spot he was stuck in. But Ryan just wouldn't hold back.

Glancing back at his two targets for just a moment, Sora dodged the two swipes made by Zack and Taylor. He looked back over at Sota at the precise time Ryan knocked his Keyblade out of his hand. Sora watched in horror as Ryan plunged his Keyblade deeply into Sota's body, making the tip of the weapon protrude out of Sota's back.

Sora's eyes widened immensely. He found that his body couldn't move. Time seemed to pause, and all Sora could see was Sota glance at him with eyes full of pain. He saw Zack and Taylor charging towards Sota as Ryan held him in place. Zack's sharp sword sliced into Sota's right side, and Taylor's, into his right.

Ryan narrowed his eyes at his opponent who now had three weapons sticking out of his body. "I told you that we would fight for him. If you would have just handed him over, we could have avoided this whole thing. Now you're going to die in guilt, knowing that you couldn't protect Sora from us."

Sota sent Ryan a glare. "Who said I was done yet?" Without warning, he slammed his forehead into Ryan's, sending jolts of agony piercing through his brain.

Ryan grunted and pulled away, ripping the weapon that was inserted into Sota's chest out. Sota elbowed Taylor in the face, making him step back also. He grabbed the Keyblade that was in Taylor's hand and then with the remaining strength he had left, he cut a deep, red gash across Zack's torso.

Zack cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground. He gasped and breathed heavily as he clutched the wound.

"Zack!" Taylor shouted, running over to his injured brother. Ryan did the same.

"Zack. . ." Ryan eyed the blood that covered the ground beneath his brother. "Don't worry. . . Shh. . ." He put his hand on Zack's cheek and nodded slowly. "You'll be fine. . . We're going back to Joshua. . . He'll fix you up. . . Okay. . ?"

Zack slowly nodded as his eyes slid shut.

Ryan quickly tossed his Keyblade aside and then carefully picked his brother up. "Taylor, we're leaving!"

Taylor's eyes were full of fear, fear for his brother. "What about the miss~"

"Screw the mission! We have to help Zack!"

"Right!" Taylor nodded. He and his older brother fled the area, hoping that Sora wouldn't get any ideas and follow them. They had to help their brother, or else he'd die.

Sora watched as the three Thompson's disappeared into the woods. He shook his head when he remembered Sota.

"Sota!" Sora cried as he ran over to him. "Are you all right!?" He eyed the blood that had soaked into Sota's clothes and was continuing to leak out of him. "Sota. . ." Sora gasped, eying all the blood. "You. . . All of this blood. . ."

Sota tried to smile. "This. . . This is nothing. I'm fine. . ." He leaned himself against the tree behind him and sighed. "Well. . . maybe not. . . Shit, what am I talking about? I'm definitely going to die here."

"No. . . You're going to be fine. Don't try to talk, it will only stress you out more."

"It wouldn't matter anyway. . . I'm as good as dead. I knew that death was coming for me some time soon. I could feel it. Oh well. . . At least I died protecting you. . ." Sota smiled. "Still want that explanation?"

Sora lowered his head.

He knew that Sota wasn't going to make it.

Forcing the tears back, he nodded. "I want to know the truth."

Sota sighed deeply. "Well. . . I suppose that you want to know why I left. It was after the Keyblade War. . . After your mother died. I was a wreck. . . I kept seeing her death. . . In my sleep, when I was awake. I wanted to forget. . . I started drinking, hoping that I would forget about her. I thought it would work, but I was just fooling myself. I didn't want to return to the house because I knew that it would just bring back memories of her. I decided to stay with Bardroy instead. I thought Joshua had died during the war, but Bardroy told me that he was alive. All I wanted to do was get revenge. . . I wanted to kill Joshua. . . I left Bardroy's, and I never went back. . . This was the first time I returned in twelve years. The Darkness consumed my heart, and took away the Light I had. I forgot about everything. All I was focused on was my revenge on Joshua. But. . . That's when I saw you. You and your friend, Riku, crashed that ship in the woods. When I saw you, I immediately knew that you were the boy that I had forgotten about. I knew that you were my son, Sora."

Sora blinked. "You saw Riku and I when we crashed the ship? Then. . . Are you the person who was following us through the woods?"

Sota nodded. "Yes. I wanted to approach you, but I didn't know how. Since I was your father, I didn't know how you'd react to seeing me again. . . But when I realized that you'd forgotten what I looked like, I guess that I just couldn't tell you about who I was. I wanted to make sure that you were safe, so I followed you around. When I lost sight of you in the Kavern, I went after you, and ended up finding you in the destroyed part of the castle. Since you were my son, I couldn't bear to leave you there. I knew you'd hate me if I reappeared in your life, but I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if I had left you for dead. I wanted to help you with your journey, so I let you come with me when you asked. It was actually an illusion of Joshua that got you and me separated in the Labyrinth. I didn't want to tell you that I was after Joshua because I thought that it would raise suspicion if you knew that I was after your mother's murderer." Sota sighed. "I guess that in the end I just had to fall. . ."

Words just wouldn't seem to form in Sora's mouth when he tried to speak. His emotions were all jumbled together. When he finally was able to speak, everything that came out was a mixture of love, hatred, and sorrow.

"Please don't die! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. . ." he begged.

"I'm sorry too, for everything I made you go through. You were just a child."

"You can't die! You just can't! I. . . I should be the one to die. . . Not you. . . They were after me. Don't worry, I'll. . . I'll get help. . ."

"No. . . It's already too late. . . No one can help me now. . ."

"No. . . if you die. . . where will I go. . . what will I do. . .? I'll be all alone. . ." Tears brimmed in the corners of his eyes.

"No. . . you won't. Don't you see Sora? You have more than this. . . So much more. . ."

"What are you talking about?" The anger in his heart overpowered the sadness for a few seconds. "I can't trust anyone anymore! Riku's dead! The Darkness is right on my tail! What more do I have? You. . . you're all I got left. . ."

"You have friends. . . and more importantly. . . You have a family, Sora."

Sora wiped tears away from his face. "Huh?"

"You have a family," Sota repeated, coughing afterward and spitting out blood.

"No. . ." Sora shook his head. "You and Mom are all I got. . . Mom's already dead. . . And now you're dying too. . ."

Sota shifted and cracked his neck. "I'm such a terrible father. . . I'm sure you realize that. . . You have both brothers and sisters Sora, but thanks to my stupid choices, you've never met any of them before."

His mouth curving into a slight smile, Sora asked, "I do?"

"Yeah. Two brothers, and two sisters. Your mother and I had five kids."

"F-five. . ? Well. . . Where are the other four?"

"Well, that's something that I'm not so sure about," Sota said. "The first one is your brother, Sanji. He's the oldest. Now, he is older than you by about five years, so he should be in his twenties."

"How come he's so old?"

"Well," Sota managed a smile, "Sarah and I weren't really prepared for a child. Let's just say he was born before we were even sure we loved each other."

"Where is he now?" Sora asked.

"Like I said, their locations are somewhat tricky. . . It's been about twelve years since I saw Sanji and Savannah. . ." Sota said.

"Savannah?"

"Oh, she's your older sister. When they were younger and I couldn't take care of them, so I dropped them off at an orphanage. I don't know if they're still there now. . . They may be. . . They may not be. . . Either way. . . That's the last place I saw them." Continuing, he began, "Your mother and I's youngest child is our little girl, Samantha. She was actually an accident. . . But of course, your mother wanted to have her. I wasn't there when she was born. . . She was only a few months old when we left for the Keyblade War. Sarah and I left both you and her with Anastasia."

"But, I don't remember another child at my house at all. Anastasia certainly never mentioned anything," Sora said.

Sota shook his head. "When she realized that we weren't returning, Anastasia probably gave Samantha up to another family. I doubt that old hag wanted to take care of her."

"That must have been what happened. I was still very young. . . I can hardly remember that much that happened back then."

"I don't blame you."

Sora went on. "You said that there were five of us; Sanji, Savannah, me, and then Samantha. Who's the other one?"

Sota closed his eyes and then opened them. "Of course. . . How could I forget? Well, the last child is actually older than you. He's Savannah's twin brother. His name is Sora Lee."

". . . Sora Lee. . ?"

Spitting out some more blood that had entered his mouth, Sota continued. "Well. . . I guess that I could say that all my wrong doings started with Sora Lee." He paused but continued. "You see, there was a prophecy about a boy named Sora who would open the Door to Light; a boy who had the power to save the universe. When I heard of the prophecy, you weren't born yet, but Sora Lee was. I don't know what came over me, but I had myself convinced that the Sora that it was talking about was Sora Lee. I wanted to make sure that he would fulfill the destiny that had been chosen for him and I wanted him to be safe. Your mother was pregnant with you when I thought about these things. That's when I got the idea about a decoy. You see, if we named another boy Sora and taught him about the destiny that he was to behold, then while the Darkness was after that boy, Sora Lee could have been safer. So, that's just what I did."

Sora was speechless.

Seeing that his son had nothing to say, Sota went on. "Your mother was against it, but I forced her into cooperating with me. When you were born and grew a little older, it was perfect because the two of you had most of the same characteristics. You both have the will to summon a Keyblade, spiky brown hair, blue eyes. . . It was a perfect match for a decoy to have. I couldn't give you the same outfit, but I found something pretty darn close. I even had another crown charmed necklace made."

Sora stopped him. "Wait. . . You're telling me that you used me as a decoy just so you could protect Sora Lee?"

Sota nodded. "I know it was wrong, but at that time, for me, it was the only thing that would help to keep Sora Lee sa~"

"I can't believe you! Don't you realize how much danger you put me in!? I nearly got killed a hundred times!" Sora took a deep breath to calm himself down. "But still. . . I am the one who is destined to open the Door to the Light. That's my destiny, not Sora Lee's. Or. . . All this time. . . Has that been a lie too?"

Sota shook his head. "No, you are the Sora that is to save the universe from eternal Darkness. I now realize that. I don't know what was going through my head back then. . . Bardroy, and even your mother knew that I was doing something wrong. They tried to tell me, but I'm too stubborn for my own damn good."

"Is that why you think I should be protected now?"

"Yeah, it is. The Darkness is after you now, and since it knows that you're its main target, it will stop at nothing to take you down." Sota grunted and clutched his wound. His face had grown paler than it already was, and the loudness in his voice was starting to decrease. "Sora Lee didn't like how his life was planned out for him. When he heard that I was going to take him with me once I left Bardroy's, he ran away. I was too swallowed up in getting my revenge on Joshua to care though. All this time, I thought that Sora Lee was dead, but just the other day, at the Kavern, I saw him."

"Really?" Sora questioned. "Where?"

"He was staring down at me through one of the windows by the top floor. I know that I haven't seen the kid since he was seven, but still, I knew it was him. He had my famous glare when he was a kid, and he still has it now."

"Oh yeah. . . I saw him too, now that I think about it. He was glaring at me too," Sora stated.

"Yeah. . . Sora Lee wasn't the most friendliest kid. He chose who he liked and who he hated."

"I noticed."

"Since you were the decoy, I knew that if you met Sora Lee, it could be risky, so that's why I decided to separate you two at birth. I did the same with Sanji and Savannah, fearing that they would mention something to you," Sota explained. "The three of them lived with Bardroy here, in this forest."

"No wonder I never heard of them. . . So, I guess that Bardroy's my uncle, huh?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, he would be. He never met you, so whenever you meet him, you'll have to explain what happened. If you ever need a place to stay, ask him. He'll be happy to help you. . . That is, if he ever does come back here. I never did find him when I went out and looked. I wonder where he and Miranda went. . ."

Sota smirked and then weakly reached out his hand and held Sora's crown charm in his hand. "I'm surprised that you still have this. I thought for sure that you would have tossed it since I had given it to you when you were little. You know, everyone in our family has a charm like that."

"Really? Do they all have necklaces?" Sora asked.

"No," Sota answered, shaking his head. "I have a tattoo." Pulling up the sleeve on his shirt, Sota revealed a tattoo of a crown on his arm. "I made sure to cover it up whenever I met you. I thought you'd figure out who I was if you saw it. One good way to identify your brothers and sisters would be by seeing if they have the crown charm."

"That makes sense. What does everyone wear so I'll know where to look?"

"Sanji has an earring and Savannah has a ring. Sora Lee and Samantha have necklaces like you. Bardroy has a tattoo, and I'm sure that you saw a few pictures of him when you were snooping through his house."

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. . . Heh, I was just curious. . ."

Sota coughed out some blood. It took him longer to catch his breath this time. Sora could tell that his strength was slowly leaving his body. If only there was some way to save him. . .

Summoning his Keyblade, Sora stood up. "Hold still, I'm going to try and heal you again."

Shaking his head, Sota quickly stopped him. "No. . . Don't. . . If you're limited to using the Cure spell, it could backfire and hurt you instead. It won't work."

"But Sota, I just can't let you die!" Sora protested.

"It's already too late for me. . . Even if you closed my wounds. . . I've lost way too much blood. . . I can hardly see anything anymore. . ." Sota said. "That reminds me. . . When I was bandaging your wounds, I saw that you had a Mark of Darkness just above your heart."

Sora gasped. "Oh. . . You saw that. . ? It's pretty sad that the one destined to open the Door to Light has something as bad as the Mark of Darkness."

"It's okay. . . It's easy to get one of them. . . I should know. . ." Sota pulled off one of his fingerless gloves and held out his hand for Sora to see. Right in the middle of his palm rested a Mark of Darkness.

"You have one too?" Sora took his father's hand and examined it. "It looks just like mine."

Sota slowly pulled his hand away and clenched his fist. "This mark is a reminder of my sin."

"What do you mean?"

"You want to know how I got this mark?"

Sora nodded.

"It appeared during the Keyblade War. . . Right after I. . ." Sota sighed and confessed, "Right after I killed Runea, Riku's mother."

Sora's blue eyes widened in fear. "W-What? You. . . You killed her?"

"I did. . . Kiari's mother has the power to control the Darkness in one's heart. She had a hold of me and made me do it. She was controlling all of my movements. When I snapped out of it, Runea was already dead. This mark appeared right after that. Sora. . . Never let the Darkness get a hold of you. It can make you do awful things. . . Things that you can never live with without guilt. . . I've been haunted by her death since it happened. Runea was so kind and full of some of the purest Light that I've ever seen. . . And I was the one who stamped it out. . ."

"I. . . I'll try to stay away from the Darkness," Sora promised. "I won't ever let it get a hold of me again."

"Now. . . Since I won't be around to do it. . . Can you please do me a favor?" Sota asked.

Sora nodded. "Anything. Anything at all, I'll do."

"Right before your mother died, she said that she wanted me to gather all of you kids together so you could meet each other. It was her wish. . . She made me promise to do it. Do you think. . . That in my place, you could do that for me?"

"I'll do it," Sora nodded. "I promise I will. I'll find them, and we can all become friends." Sora's eyes were moist and he was completely aware that tears were running down his face. He quickly fell to his knees and then wrapped his arms around his father and cried, "Please. . . Oh please Dad. . . Don't die. . . I'm sorry for everything I said to you. . . I don't want you to die. . . I love you Dad. . . Please. . ."

Sota wrapped his arms around his son and hugged him back. "Sora, if the time ever comes when you don't know whether to **live or die**, live. For me. . . For your mother. . . For all of us. Life is just too short to throw away. You have to enjoy it while you can."

Burying his face into Sota's bloody chest, Sora nodded. "Okay. . . I will. . . I promise you I will."

Sota smiled. "Thanks. . . I know that you can do this. You're the only one. . . who. . . can. . ." Sora pulled away from his father just as his head lowered and his grip around Sora died away. His arms fell to his sides and his head hung heavily.

Sora's eyes grew wide. He placed his hands on Sota's shoulders and gave him a light shake. "Sota? Dad. . ?"

There was no answer.

"Come on. . . Answer me. . ."

Still, no reply.

The tears came once again, this time more quickly. Sora's body trembled as he placed his fingers on Sota's cheek. He felt so cold. . . So lifeless. . .

Sota was dead.

Thunder crackled in the sky and the rain began to fall. Sora ignored the cold rain that soaked his body and seeped through his clothes. He was too busy staring at his deceased father.

Beset by sorrow that was deeper than he had ever known possible, Sora's tears flowed endlessly, mixing with the rain that poured down from above. His heart had sunken into a deep pit of despair. Once again, he had been shattered. _**Shattered by the Darkness.**_

He cried for what felt like hours. . .

Many hours. . .

Sota's body glowed a light blue color and then began to fade away slowly, right before Sora's eyes. Sora blinked rapidly and then desperately tried to grab his father's hand before it disappeared into flurry of sparkles that soon died off as well.

What more could the Darkness take away from him now? Sora realized what that answer was in a matter of seconds.

He _had_ to find his family before the Darkness did. They were all he had left, and he knew that he had to find them no matter what the cost.

Sora stood up and stared at the tree where his father's body had been lying only moments ago and finally turned away. He disappeared into the Darkness of the woods, knowing that his journey was going to be twice as hard now than it had ever been. . .

_To Be Continued. . ._


End file.
